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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, 



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33£ 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



SCHOOL ENGLISH 



A MANUAL FOR USE IN CONNECTION WITH THE 

WRITTEN ENGLISH WORK OF SECONDARY 

SCHOOLS 



BY 



GEORGE P. BUTLER 

V. 

Formerly English Master in the Lawrenceytlle School^ 
Lawrenceville, N.J. 









•15 1894 



2 <r<$'Cj~'Z« 



I 



NEW YORK-:- CINCINNATI-:- CHICAGO 

AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY 
1894 




:B11 



Copyright, 1894, by 
AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY. 



"BUT. SCH. ENG. 



printed b» 

XHUUfam Hvfson 

Hew J&orfc, TO. S. H. 



PREFACE. 



The conviction seems to be steadily gaining strength, 
that English teaching in secondary schools should 
include (i) reading and discussing selections from 
standard English authors, (2) constant practice in com- 
position, (3) systematic correction of the pupil's work, 
and (4) the study of rhetoric for the purpose of culti- 
vating the pupil's power of criticising and improving 
his own writing. 

An ample number of standard works have been 
published in convenient form for school use, and the 
majority of English teachers are employing them in 
class work. For this reason the time allowed for the 
study of rhetoric has, in most schools, been much 
reduced. However, the study of rhetoric cannot be 
safely ignored ; for in order to secure the greatest bene- 
fit from practice in composition and from the corrections 
of the teacher, the class must be made familiar with 
certain rules for avoiding errors in the use of language 
and for the improvement of style. As a matter of fact, 
rhetoric is now being taught to younger classes than 
ever before ; and teachers of English seem to demand 

3 



4 PREFACE. 

to-day a manual expressing the rules and principles of 
good style in such a way, that a scholar fifteen or 
sixteen years of age can easily appreciate their appli- 
cation to his own work. 

The old-style text-books of rhetoric are fast being re- 
placed by books written with these aims more distinctly 
in view; but in many cases the multiplication of rules, 
their illogical classification, or the addition of erroneous 
or irrelevant matter, has impaired the usefulness of 
these books; and not infrequently time is wasted on 
examples not worthy of the attention of intelligent 
scholars. The work now presented provides what the 
author believes to be a logical classification of the best 
directions for avoiding errors and securing a good 
style. Under each rule are explained the ways in 
which it is most frequently violated ; one or two exam- 
ples are given and corrected; and other examples are 
added, to be corrected by the pupil. Many of these 
examples have been taken from the work of school or 
college pupils, or from the pages of magazines and 
newspapers. 

The advantage of this method of classifying errors 
can be seen through the following illustration : Sole- 
cisms may be differentiated until they number many 
hundreds ; but they may also be grouped under sig- 
nificant heads, so that twenty rules, if observed, will 
correct the common errors of inexperienced writers ; 
while, if a specialization of errors is thought desirable, 



PREFACE. 5 

this can be found in the explanations of the ways in 
which the rules are violated. 

A common method employed by English teachers in 
correcting essays is to place a number or symbol over a 
faulty word or passage, showing that a certain rule in 
the text-book has been violated. If the rules indicated 
are general in their bearing, the specific application 
being left to the ingenuity of the pupil, the impression 
is deeper and more lasting, as in some measure the 
fault has been detected by himself. As the number 
of symbols is multiplied, this system becomes unman- 
ageable. 

To reduce the number of rules has been one of the 
principal aims in this work ; but the chief effort of the 
author has been to state the rules and all other matter 
in such a way that the scholar will feel the useful- 
ness of his lessons. The technical terms of rhetoric, 
often so bewildering to young minds, have been avoided 
as far as possible, and never used without an expla- 
nation of their meaning. At the beginning of each 
subject, its bearing on the main object in view is 
explained. 

Examples of faulty sentences have been introduced 
in order to cultivate the power of criticism ; but these 
should not be dwelt on to the exclusion of examples of 
good English. Selections from authors remarkable for 
their good style have been included in Chapters IV. 
and V. in order that the teacher may be able to read 



6 PREFACE. 

with the class, without referring to another volume, 
passages of special merit as regards the points dis- 
cussed in these chapters. 

In connection with the study of rhetoric, it will be 
of great advantage for the pupil to know something of 
the structure and history of the English language, 
especially those facts that will explain to him the way 
in which English words have come into use, and the 
changes in their form and meaning. Accordingly, in 
the opening chapter, there are included a few pages on 
English etymology ; and in the Appendix will be found 

a brief history of the English language. 

G. P. B. 

Yonkers, N.Y., July, 1894. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER PAGE 

Introduction 9 

PART I. . — RHETORIC. 

I. English Words 13 

II. Correction of Errors in the Use of Words .... 35 

III. Correction of Errors in Construction 50 

IV. Clearness, Force, and Harmony 75 

V. Figures of Speech 119 

VI. Errors in the Use of Figures 152 

PART II. —COMPOSITION. 

I. Preliminary Suggestions 159 

II. Letter Writing 163 

III. Exercises from Extracts 175 

IV. Description and Narration 192 

V. Essays v . 203 

VI. Debate 212 

VII. Punctuation and Capitals 218 

APPENDIX. 

I. A Short History of the English Language .... 240 

II. Goldsmith's "Deserted Village" 256 

Index 267 

7 



INTRODUCTION. 



Object of the Study of Rhetoric. — School pupils often 
become discouraged, because they do not understand 
the practical value of their studies. Our first care, 
therefore, will be to guard against difficulties that might 
arise from a failure to understand the object in view 
in the study of rhetoric. 

The aim of the study of rhetoric is to enable the stu- 
dent to present Ids ideas in such language that they may 
be appreJiended with the least possible effort on the part 
of the reader or listener} 

To secure this end, the words used must be the best 
for conveying the meaning ; the grammatical construc- 
tion must be in accordance with the usage of the lan- 
guage ; the thought must be expressed with all possible 
clearness and force, and its expression should be agree- 
able to the ear. 

The ability to put one's thoughts in writing so that 
another can understand them without difficulty, is one 
of the most valuable possessions in life. In some cases 
this power seems to be a natural gift. In the majority 
of cases, however, whatever power one has in this direc- 
tion can be improved by effort. 



1 See Herbert Spencer's " Philosophy of Style." 
9 



10 INTRODUCTION. 

Correction of Errors. — In this book, the method 
employed for assisting the student in his efforts to 
improve in composition, consists partly in pointing out 
the errors by which unskillful writers most frequently 
fall short of the above requirements, and in explaining 
how to correct these errors and how to avoid them ; for 
to a certain extent improvement in writing comes from 
removing imperfections and blemishes, and leaving only 
that which is sound. 

However, merely correcting errors will not of itself 
make a good writer. Before any correction can be 
made, there must be something to correct. Therefore 
the first chapter of this book provides instruction 
designed to give the scholar some knowledge of Eng- 
lish words, — the vehicle which he must use for the 
expression of his ideas. In the Appendix there is a 
history of the English language, for use in connection 
with this chapter. The other chapters of Part I. are 
devoted to correcting errors in the use of words, and 
errors in grammar ; and to the improvement of sentences 
in clearness, force, and harmony. 

Exercise in Composition. — Precept is valueless with- 
out practice. The student must write continually if 
he wishes to improve his powers of composition. It 
is often very difficult to find subjects for compulsory 
exercises in composition. No one appreciates this 
fact better than boys or girls from whom essays 
are due the next day. The advice to write often will 
not be followed unless the way for writing is made 
easier than it appears to most young people. Accord- 
ingly, the second part of this book gives suggestions 
that are intended to make the work of composition 
easier and more attractive. There are many matters 



INTRODUCTION. 1 1 

of form that have been adopted in order to make 
written language more readily intelligible, such as 
paragraphing, punctuation, and capitalization. The 
most important rules of form are given in Chapter VII. 
of Part II. 

Reading. — Besides learning rules of rhetoric, and 
writing exercises in composition, there is another 
equally important means of securing improvement in 
writing; namely, reading. One cannot write well in 
any language until he is thoroughly familiar with it, 
not merely with the words used in ordinary conversation, 
but also with the literature of the language. 

There is great disparity in the attainments of pupils 
of the same age; but in no case is this disparity so 
marked as in the ability to use the pen ; and except in 
cases of remarkable natural endowment, the inequality 
of attainment is explained by the amount of reading 
done by each pupil. Some at the age of fifteen have 
read nothing beyond nursery rhymes and schoolbooks, 
while others can count scores of volumes of standard 
literature carefully read. 

Other things being equal, the boy who has read much 
will write better than the boy who has read little, 
even though the rules of rhetoric be more thoroughly 
mastered by the latter. Indeed, the study of rhetoric 
can be made profitable only by acquiring along with 
its principles, through constant reading, a thorough 
acquaintance with the writings of others. 

To read much, one must read rapidly. It is not right 
to distress the boy who loves to read by telling him that 
all books must be read slowly and with great care. On 
the contrary, pupils should be encouraged to read out 
of school for pleasure, and not as a task. Moreover, by 



1 2 INTRODUCTION. 

rapid reading one will learn much about the meaning 
and use of words from the context, and how to grasp 
the meaning of sentences and paragraphs quickly. 

There are, however, some books which repay one for 
all the time and study spent upon them. The reading 
of annotated English classics, with care to understand 
every word, sentence, allusion, and reference, is an 
excellent exercise for the English classroom. This 
kind of reading or study gives the pupil an exact 
knowledge of his language, which can be gained in no 
other way, besides much valuable information in other 
branches of knowledge. As each book is read, the 
author, the purpose for which he wrote, and the age 
in which he lived, should be borne in mind ; and, if 
possible, the pupil's reading should be planned with a 
view to gaining an insight into the development and 
growth of the English tongue and the history of Eng- 
lish literature. 

The practice of reading aloud is found to be specially 
advantageous ; because it insures the reading of every 
word, allows time for an impression to be made upon 
the reader's mind, and, if the book is carefully selected, 
accustoms the ear to the sound of well-chosen words 
and well-formed sentences. In the same way, com- 
mitting to memory the masterpieces of poetry and 
prose is of great assistance in learning to write. 1 

1 Goldsmith's " Deserted Village," a poem in which descriptions of 
slightly varying scenes are given with charming accuracy in the choice 
of words, has been printed in the Appendix of this book, for the conven- 
ience of teachers who may wish their classes to commit to memory por- 
tions of the poem. 



Part I. 

RHETORIC. 



CHAPTER I. 
ENGLISH WORDS. 

Authority for Use of Words. — If the writer's aim is 
to save the reader the expenditure of all unnecessary 
energy, the writer should use only such words as belong 
to the language in which he is writing, and should use 
them in the proper sense. 

" Use is the law of language." By this is meant that 
any word used by the best English writers of the present 
age is an English wordy and the sense in which they use 
it determines the meaning of that word in the language. 

Therefore, if one is told that any word in his writing 
or conversation is not an English word, or that- he has 
not used it in the right sense or with the proper shade 
of meaning, he can defend himself only by quoting some 
authority ; namely, writers of high standing who have 
used that word in recent times to express the same 
meaning as that in which he used it. If he can quote 
only one, the defense is weak ; if he can quote several, 
his use of the word is correct. 

The Dictionary. — Discussions with reference to words 
are generally settled by referring to a dictionary ; but 

13 



14 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

this is only a convenient way of referring to standard 
authors ; for in the dictionary we may find the way 
in which a word is spelled, its pronunciation and deri- 
vation, and the sense in which it is used by standard 
authors. We may also find whether the word has gone 
out of use or recently come into use, and whether it is 
provincial or local, slang or rarely used, technical or 
vulgar. 

Suppose, for instance, that the word quixotic is used, 
and some one raises the question whether it is an 
English word. The dictionary is consulted, and we 
find the word there spelled, the pronunciation indicated, 
and the definition given, as follows: "Quix-ot'ic, a. 
Like Don Quixote; romantic to extravagance." Then 
follows a quotation from Prescott : " Feats of quixotic 
gallantry." As we find no statement that the word is 
rare, obsolete, slang, new, or technical, we know that 
more authors could have been quoted, and that it is in 
good usage as an English word. 

We might likewise find that the verb ashame, equiva- 
lent to the verb shame •, is rarely used; that the verb orn 
(ornament) is altogether obsolete ; and that the noun 
altruism is of recent adoption into the language. The 
word crank, when used to denote an eccentric person, 
is stamped as colloquial. To bulldoze (intimidate) is 
United States slang ; and only an illiterate person will 
speak of a worriting child. 

All these facts can be gathered from the dictionary in 
a few moments' search. Indeed, the dictionary is the 
best text-book for the study of words ; and in the larger 
or unabridged editions can be found all the informa- 
tion needed concerning every word in the language. It 
is important, therefore, that every student should know 



ENGLISH WORDS. 1 5 

how to use the dictionary ; that he should look up every 
word of which he is at all doubtful, and make himself 
certain as to its use ; and that every time he is corrected 
in the use of a word, he should find out exactly what his 
mistake is, and thus guard himself against making a 
similar mistake. 

As a rule, school pupils do not refer very often 
to the dictionary ; and those who do, from careless- 
ness or ignorance, generally fail to get all the infor- 
mation that they need. Therefore, we shall devote a 
few pages to suggestions as to the use of the dictionary. 

HOW TO USE THE DICTIONARY. 

Ownership. — Every student should own an English 
dictionary not smaller than the Webster's " Academic 
Dictionary/' and should make a point of keeping it in a 
place convenient for use. From such editions the pupil 
may find, with reference to all the words that he would 
be likely to use in writing or speaking, the following 
information : — 
I. The Spelling. 

II. The Pronunciation, indicated by division into 
syllables, by accent, and by marks showing the sound 
of vowels and consonants. These marks are called 
diacritical marks, and are explained at the beginning of 
the dictionary and at the bottom of each page. Words 
especially difficult to pronounce are spelled phonetically 
in brackets following the correct spelling. 

It is not necessary for the student to commit to mem- 
ory any table of diacritical marks ; for most dictionaries 
contain in the opening pages a key to their system of 
indicating pronunciation, and explanations in footnotes 



1 6 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

on each page. He should, however, be sufficiently 
familiar with these symbols to be able to pronounce any 
word without other aid. 

III. The Part of Speech, indicated by an initial letter 
or letters in small Italics. A second initial letter is 
given if the word is more than one part of speech. 
The various forms of inflected words are indicated in 
brackets following the part of speech ; but regular plu- 
rals and comparisons are not given. 

Ex. Ea'ger-ly, adv. 1 
Im-mov'a-ble, a. 

Stop, v.t. [-ped ; -ping.] 

Scratch, v.t. [-ed; -ing.] To rub or tear the surface 
with something sharp. ;/. A slight incision or laceration. 

IV. The Derivation, given in brackets, which contain 
the original or foreign word or words from which the 
English word has been derived. The names of foreign 
languages are indicated by abbreviations. The foreign 
words are printed in Italics. When referring to the 
dictionary, the student should read carefully the deri- 
vations given, so far as his knowledge of foreign lan- 
guages will enable him to understand them. 

Ex. Lu'nat-ie, /z. [Lat. lunaticus; lima, the moon.] 
Port, n. [Lat. portus, a harbor.] 
Trlb'u-la'tion, 2 ;/. [Lat. tribulatio.'] 

V. The Definition, following the derivation. If the 
word has more than one meaning, the several definitions 
are numbered (see definitions of cross, stream, stand, in 

1 Every dictionary contains a table explaining the meaning of all the 
abbreviations and arbitrary symbols employed. 

2 The heavier of two accents on one word indicates the syllable which 
receives the greater stress. 



ENGLISH WORDS. 1 7 

"Academic Dictionary "). Often a list of synonyms, or 
words of similar meaning, is given after the definition. 

Ex. Val'or, n. [Lat. valere, to be strong.] Strength of mind 
in regard to danger ; personal bravery. 
Syn. — Courage; bravery; boldness; fearlessness; heroism. 

DEFINITIONS. 

Warning against Carelessness. — Accuracy is espe- 
cially important in defining a word or term ; yet there 
is the greatest difficulty in securing accuracy in defini- 
tions from school pupils. They generally appreciate 
that Latin and French exercises must be correct in 
every particular, and that a mistake of a unit in addition 
makes the result altogether wrong ; but ask a boy to 
define a word, and the answer is generally given with- 
out thought or care. Nouns are defined as adjectives, 
adjectives as nouns, verbs as participles. 

Until a class has had some definite instruction in 
definition, the pupils will make ridiculous mistakes when 
asked to define an ordinary word. This failure is 
particularly evident when students who have had no 
instruction in definition take up geometry, and are asked 
to define the terms for which definitions must be given 
before the study of propositions is begun. 

Examples of Poor Definitions. — Unless the definitions 
of the text-book are committed to memory, the answers 
seldom meet the requirements of a good definition, but 
are often like the following examples : — 

A surface is the top of anything. 

A line is when you draw a mark from one place to another. 

A straight line is not curved at all. 

An axiom is something that you know already. 

A right angle is where two lines come straight together. 

SCH. ENG. — 2 



j 8 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

A class of untrained schoolboys will define ordinary 
words in a manner similar to the following examples : — 

1. Love, v.t. To love is when you are very fond of any one. 

2. Swiftly, adv., is running fast. 

3. Bicycle, n., a two-wheeled vehicle. 

4. Cake, n., sweet bread. 

With regard to Example 1, certainly a transitive verb 
must be defined by a word or combination of words that 
denotes an action. The above definition does not denote 
an action, but the time of an action. The proper defini- 
tion is, (1) to regard with affection, (2) to take delight 
in. A true definition can be substituted in a sentence 
for the word defined, and leave the sense substantially 
the same. 

Ex. I love my mother : I regard my mother with affection. 

I love Beethoven's music: I take delight in Beethoven's 
music. 

In Example 2, the definition might be substituted in 
some sentences, but not in all. He came running fast 
has the same sense as he tame swiftly \ if the individual 
referred to came on foot ; but the substitution will not 
make good sense in the line, " My days are gliding 
swiftly by." To define swiftly properly, we must have 
an adverb phrase ; as, with rapidity, in haste, with 
quick motion or speed. 

Example 3 is correct so far as the part of speech is 
concerned, but the definition is not complete ; for, so 
defined, a bicycle might be a doctor's gig, a sulky, or 
a cart with two wheels. A good definition must 
go further. The dictionary defines bicycle as a two- 
wheeled velocipede. Velocipede is a vehicle propelled 
by the rider's feet. 



ENGLISH WORDS. 



19 



Example 4 is fair ; but cake must have butter or eggs, 
neither of which is in bread. 

Good Definitions. — For examples of good definitions, 
look up in a dictionary the words for which faulty defi- 
nitions have just been given, and other words whose 
meaning you are familiar with, but whose definitions you 
find difficulty in stating accurately. 



EXERCISES IN DEFINITION. 



Define accurately the following words : ■ 



1. Arrest. 

2. Blind. 

3. Conductor. 

4. Definition. 

5. Dictionary. 

6. Diacritical. 

7. Excellent. 

8. Ghost. 



9- 
10. 
11. 
12. 

14. 

n- 

16. 



Initial. 

Kick. 

Level. 

Medicine. 

Normal. 

Number. 

Offend. 

Perhaps. 



17. Print. 

18. Quire. 

19. Rogue. 

20. Roast. 

21. Sacrifice. 

22. Sick. 

23. School. 

24. Spend. 



25. Table. 

26. Tragedy. 

27. Type. 

28. Universe. 

29. Vail. 

30. Wonder. 

31. Young. 

32. Zenith. 



ETYMOLOGY. 

Definition. — The pupil has been advised to make 
constant and careful reference to the dictionary. He 
has been told to notice the derivation of English words 
from words in foreign languages. If he pays attention 
to the advice, he will often find that the derivation of a 
word is sufficient to explain its meaning. For example, 
the word biography is derived from two Greek words, 
/3/o? {bios, life) and ypdfecv (graphein, to write). When 
one knows this, no further definition is needed in order 
to understand the meaning of biography. Expire is from 
the Latin ex (out) and spirare ( to breathe) ; antecedent, 
from ante (before) and cedere (to go). Somnambulist 
is from two Latin words, meaning sleep and walk. The 



20 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

study of words, and of their formation from other 
words or roots of the same or a foreign language, is 
called etymology. The aim of the study is to enable 
one to divide any word into its parts, separating the 
root, or stem, on which the word is built, from the ter- 
minations or prefixes which are added to the root, and 
from the meaning of its parts to derive the meaning of 
the word. 

Changes in Meaning of Words. — There are, however, 
many English words whose meaning is no longer that 
denoted by their derivation. For example, the word 
prevent originally meant to go before, and was so used 
for a long while by English authors. Prevent now 
means to hinder or to frustrate. In studying etymology, 
one must bear in mind that the sense in which a word 
is used by the best authors determines the meaning of 
that word. 

Although the present use of eminent writers is the 
only criterion for our choice of words, we must remem- 
ber that these writers have secured eminence only 
because of their power to present their thoughts in 
the English language in such a way as to be readily 
understood. Consequently they must have changed 
the meaning of a word, or coined a new word, only 
when the needs of the language demanded such changes 
or additions, and only in such ways as added to the in- 
telligibility of the writer's sentences. As the usage of 
such writers has always been the standard, it follows 
that the meaning of most words is that denoted by their 
derivation. Hence we must admit the importance of 
etymology to aid us in the right use of words, even 
though the etymological meaning of a few words has 
been altered. 



ENGLISH WORDS. 21 

Philology. — In its widest extent, etymology embraces 
a complete knowledge of all the languages from which 
any English words have been derived, and also of all 
languages in which we find w r ords related to English 
words. In order to understand the meaning of what 
has just been said of the relations of words, the pupil 
must know something of the discoveries that have been 
made in pliilology, or the study of language. 

The Indo-European Family. — Marked resemblances 
among most of the ancient and modern languages of 
Europe, Persia, and India, indicate that they are de- 
rived from a single language spoken in prehistoric 
times by a race which we call the Indo-European, or 
Aryan, race. 

Though it has not been possible to decide where the 
race was originally located, it is clear that successive 
emigrations from its home have carried the Aryan race 
and speech to India, Persia, and all parts of Europe. 
The varying influences to which the different portions 
of the race were subjected after their separation from 
the main body, at a time before language had been 
reduced to writing, will account for all the differences 
existing to-day among the languages of the Aryan 
family ; while the resemblances can be accounted, for 
on no hypothesis except that of a common origin. 

Philologists have not yet agreed upon the order in 
time in which these nations left the Aryan center ; 
but a still greater similarity existing between the lan- 
guages of groups of nations proves that the members 
of each of these groups, after their separation from 
the original race, remained together for a long time 
before they became separate nations. In case of the 
most recent migrations of the tribes of Europe, the 



22 



SCHOOL ENGLISH. 



records of history agree with th£ results of the scien- 
tific study of language. 

The following table exhibits the main groups of the 
Indo-European family and the principal members of 
each group: — 

THE INDO-EUROPEAN, OR ARYAN, LANGUAGES. 

Main Branches. Principal Language of Each Branch. 

i. Indian. The ancient and modern languages of India. 

Sanskrit, preserved in the Vedic texts, is especially 
important in the study of philology. 

2. Persian. The ancient and modern languages of Persia. 

3. Greek. Ancient and modern Greek. 

4. Italic Latin, and the Romance languages (derived 

from the language of Rome); viz., Italian, French, 
Spanish, and Portuguese. 

5. Celtic All the original languages of western Europe 

and the British Isles. The Welsh language and 
the native dialects of Ireland, Scotland, the Isle 
of Man, and Brittany, are the only living repre- 
sentatives of the Celtic branch. 

6. Teutonic Gothic, Icelandic, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, 

German, Dutch, and Anglo-Saxon, or English. 

7. Baltic Lithuanian, Prussian, and Lettish. 

8. Slavonic Russian, Bulgarian, Servian, Croatian, and Slo- 

venian. 



Cognate Words. — As has been said, in every member 
of this family of languages there are found words having 
a strong resemblance to words expressing the same idea 
in other languages of this family. The words which 



ENGLISH WORDS. - 23 

exhibit the most striking resemblance are those used in 
the commonest affairs of life. When we look up brother 
in an unabridged dictionary, we find, amongst other 
matter in brackets after the word, Anglo-Saxon, bro- 
dor ; Dutch, breeder ; German, brnder ; Danish, broder ; 
Gothic, brothar ; Lithuanian, droits ; Russian, braf ; 
Latin, f rater ; Greek, (jypdrrjp (f rater). 

These are the words expressing the same or a kin- 
dred idea in the languages mentioned. They are called 
allied, or cognate, words. The English word brother is 
not derived from the Latin f rater, or the German brtider, 
nor, except in case of the Anglo-Saxon and English, 
which are earlier and later forms of the same language, 
is any one of these words derived from any other ; but 
all are simply the alterations which one word of the 
original Indo-European language has undergone in the 
speech of the nations descended from it and separated 
from each other. 

Derived Words. — When, however, we look up the 
English word fraternal in the dictionary, we find that 
it comes from Latin fraternalis, from fratemus. This 
means that some time during the history of the Eng- 
lish language the Latin -word fraternalis has been taken 
into the English in the form of fraternal, and we say 
that fraternal is derived from the Latin fraternalis. 

ELEMENTS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

Knowledge of History Necessary. — Many English 
words have been taken from other languages ; and in 
order satisfactorily to appreciate the study of English 
etymology, it is necessary to know a few facts of history 
that will explain how these words have come into the 



24 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

language. A short history of the English language 
will be found in the appendix of this book (p. 240). 

Original and Foreign Elements. — English as spoken 
to-day is Anglo-Saxon, the language of our Teutonic 
forefathers, with additions and changes brought about 
by national conquest and foreign influence. The prin- 
cipal part of the foreign element in English con- 
sists of Latin words that have come into our speech, 
partly through military, ecclesiastical, and literary influ- 
ence, but chiefly through the Norman-French conquest, 
French itself being descended directly from Latin. 

A large Greek element has been brought in to meet 
the needs of scientific nomenclature; and in one way or 
another, almost every language has contributed to the 
stock of English words. All languages borrow foreign 
words, but in this respect English has gone beyond any 
other of the great modern languages. 

Proportion of Various Elements. — In considering the 
proportion which one element of the language bears to 
the whole or to any other element, we must make a dis- 
tinction between the entire number of words and those 
in common use. Of the words in " Webster's Interna- 
tional Dictionary," a large majority are of foreign origin. 
The dictionaries, however, contain many words rarely 
used, and many words used only in the technical vocab- 
ularies of the arts and sciences. Such words are almost 
all foreign. 

In the fullest English dictionaries there are over one 
hundred thousand words ; yet Shakespeare, who used 
a large vocabulary, used only fifteen thousand differ- 
ent words. Milton employs eight thousand different 
words in his poetical works. The everyday vocabulary 
of conversation contains only three or four thousand 



ENGLISH WORDS. 25 

words, while that of the uneducated man or woman is 
often as low as six or eight hundred. Of the English 
words ordinarily used, about one half are of Saxon ori- 
gin : of the other half, four fifths are from the Latin. 
Next in importance is the Greek element. The words 
from all other sources make one twentieth of the entire 
vocabulary. 

THE ANGLO-SAXON ELEMENT. 

The Most Important. — Though much less than half of 
the entire stock, the Anglo-Saxon words form the most 
important element of the English language, and are most 
necessary for the construction of an English sentence. 
It is difficult to put four or five words together without 
using one or more Saxon words. All the articles, pro- 
nouns, and auxiliary verbs, nearly all prepositions and 
conjunctions, and most simple adverbs, are Saxon ; while 
of English nouns, adjectives, and verbs, those which 
most frequently present themselves to the mind are 
from the same source, as may be seen from the follow- 
ing list of Saxon words : man, horse, bird, blood, head, 
heart, soul, wind, rain, day, water, stone, gold, field, 
tree, good, evil, high, short, cold, hot, hard, soft, white, 
black, etc. ; lie, lay, sit, stand, walk, run, do, say, -take, 
have, tell, break, think, feel, love, fear, find, etc. 

Thus it is clear that the Saxon element contains those 
words that must be repeated most frequently in making 
sentences. If we take the writings of various authors, 
and count the words including repetitions of the same 
words, we shall find that far more than half are Saxon. 
In hardly any good English writing will the ratio of 
Saxon words to the total number used fall below sev- 
enty to one hundred, and in many extracts we shall find 



26 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

it over ninety to one hundred. Counting in this way, 
we find that Shakespeare uses from eighty-five to ninety 
Saxon words in a total of one hundred ; Milton, over 
eighty. Johnson is noted for his use of Latin deriva- 
tives ; but in every hundred words in the preface to his 
dictionary, a fair sample of his writings, he uses, on the 
average, seventy-two Saxon words. 

If, however, we count only the different words used, 
we find but sixty-five Saxon words in every hundred of 
Shakespeare's vocabulary. About the same ratio exists 
in the Authorized Version of the Bible ; while of Milton's 
vocabulary, the Saxon forms less than one third of the 
whole. 

Anglo-Saxon and Modern English. — Much of the 
original Anglo-Saxon vocabulary has become obsolete ; 
and though some words have survived unchanged in 
form, the pronunciation and spelling of most Saxon words 
are different from what they were in the original tongue. 
To all intents and purposes, Anglo-Saxon is a dead lan- 
guage ; and until one has studied it as such, he can 
do little work with Anglo-Saxon derivatives, beyond 
the limits of modern English. 

The roots of most Saxon derivatives and compounds 
appear by themselves in words with which we are so 
familiar that their meaning is evident to any English- 
speaking person. It takes no study to understand the 
meaning of goodness, wisely, foremost, alone, sunshine, 
and other such words. The simplest expressions of 
our thoughts and the earliest words of childhood are 
Anglo-Saxon, and do not need to be defined or have 
their derivation traced in order to be understood, as 
may be seen by referring to the former list of Saxon 
words. 



ENGLISH WORDS. 2J 

THE LATIN ELEMENT. 

Knowledge of Latin Important. — Most of the other 
half of our words come from the Latin, as has been 
already explained. Therefore, without some knowledge 
of Latin, we can have no clear idea of the derivation of 
many English words. This fact furnishes the chief 
argument in favor of spending the greater part of 
one's youth in the study of Latin ; and the most 
useful application of the knowledge thus gained, is as 
a means to the more thorough understanding of one's 
own tongue. 

No one who has studied Latin even a single year need 
look up the meaning of the words predict, contradict, 
unanimous, uniform, consequence, animadvert, descend, 
and hundreds of other words. It is astonishing how 
much help in the study of words can be gained from a 
very slight acquaintance with Latin. 

The Latin words that have been taken into the Eng- 
lish language may be divided into three divisions. 

The First Division comprises the words which were 
left by the military occupation of Britain, and those 
Latin words which entered the Anglo-Saxon language 
before the Norman Conquest. The former are very 
few in number. The best known examples are street 
(A.S. street, from Lat. strata via, a paved road) and 
mile (A.S. mil, from Lat. milia passuum, a thousand 
paces). The name Chester, also used as a termina- 
tion in the names of English towns, as Winchester 
and Colchester, is derived from the Latin castra (a 
camp or fortified town). The following are exam- 
ples of Latin words modified by use during the Anglo- 
Saxon period. 



28 



SCHOOL ENGLISH. 



LATIN. 


ANGLO-SAXON. 


ENGLISH, 


Mabolus, 


de'oful, 


devil. 


'resbyter, 


preost, 


priest. 


'ondo, 


pund, 


pound. 


loneta, 


mynet (money), 


mint. 



The Second Division includes all Latin words that 
have come into English through the Norman-French. 

Ex. Amiable, ancestor, circuit, faucet, people, pursuit, stable. 

Latin words which have been adopted through the 
Norman-French are often so changed in form that it 
is difficult to recognize them. Issue is derived from the 
Latin exire through the old French issir. 

The following examples will illustrate the changes 
which Latin words have undergone in passing through 
the French : — 



LATIN. 


FRENCH. 


ENGLISH. 


Cantus, 


chant, 


chant. 


Fames, 


famine, 


famine. 


Fallere, 


faillir, 


fail. 


Maritare, 


marier, 


marry. 


Percipere, 


percevoir, 


perceive 


Regalis, 


royal, 


royal. 


Cambire (cambiare), 


changer, 


change. 


Cuneus, 


coin. 


coin. 



The Third Division includes those words that, through 
the courts of law, the church service, or through scien- 
tific and literary influence, have been taken from the 
Latin into English since the Norman Conquest, with- 
out passing through the French, or at least with little 
change from their original form. 

Ex. Radius, genius, nucleus, legal, pontifical, tribulation, describe, 
circular, circumvent. 



ENGLISH WORDS. 



29 



In some cases the English has taken words directly 
from the Latin, and the same words have come into 
English through the Norman-French. Thus one Latin 
word provides two English words of slightly different 
form and meaning, as exemplified below. 







ENGLISH THROUGH 


LATIN. 


ENGLISH. 


THE FRENCH. 


Benedictio, 


benediction. 


benison. 


Pauper, 


pauper, 


poor. 


Captivus, 


captive, 


caitiff. 


Fragilis, 


fragile, 


frail. 


Factio, 


faction, 


fashion. 


Radius, 


radius, 


ray. 



OTHER ELEMENTS. 

The other elements which compose the English lan- 
guage may be classified as follows : — 

I. The Greek Element, comprising chiefly those words 
which have been deliberately coined or borrowed to meet 
the demand for words to represent the new ideas and 
relations brought to light by the progress of science 
and philosophy. When an instrument was invented 
which enabled a person instantly to communicate intel- 
ligence to another at a greater distance than was pos- 
sible before, two Greek words — rrj\e (tele, afar) and 
ypd(f>€tv (graphein, to write) — were put together, and 
the new instrument was called the telegraph. So of tele- 
phone, from rrjXe and (fxovtj (phone', sound). 

The Romans borrowed their scientific terminology 
from the Greek very much as we are doing to-day. 
The older terms of science have come into English 
through the Latin, or through the Latin and the 
French, as may be seen by looking up the following 



30 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

words in any unabridged dictionary : logic, machine, 
echo, nucleus, anagram, syllogism, axiom, optics, theology, 
theologue. 

The names of most sciences are from the Greek, — 
rhetoric, from prjropc/c/) (rhetorike) ; philosophy, from 
(f>t\oao(j)ia (philosophia) ; etymology, from irvfioXoyia 
(etumologid). In fact, the technical vocabulary of sci- 
ence is almost entirely taken from the Greek, as may be 
seen by looking up in any dictionary the derivation of 
such scientific terms as the following : — 



Biology 


Diphtheria 


Hydrostatics 


Arithmetic 


Rheumatism 


Hydraulics 


Biography 


Politics 


Asteroid 


Geometry 


Orthography 


Horizon 


Anatomy 


Phrenology 


Parallel 


Geography 


Physiology 


Parabola 


Bronchitis 


Dynamics 


Hyperbola 



II. The Norse or Scandinavian Element, comprising 
the names of towns ending in by (the Danish word for 
village)) as Ashby, Rugby, Whitby, and a few other 
words ; as screech, grime, bozv (of a ship), ransack. 
Probably most of the Scandinavian words found in 
English were introduced by the Danish invasion, though 
they do not appear in literature until after the Norman 
Conquest. 

III. The Celtic Element, including a few words taken 
from the language of the ancient Britons, and some 
which have come into our speech from the Welsh, Irish, 
or Scotch. Basket, glen, lad, probably were borrowed 
early in English history. Brogue, clan, whisky, are of 
more recent adoption. 

IV. The Miscellaneous Element, including all words 
borrowed from other languages, or in other ways than 



ENGLISH WORDS. 3 1 

those mentioned above, through the commercial, social, 
and literary contact of English-speaking people with 
other nations of the world. 

Ex. From the Spanish. — Galleon, armadillo, lasso, ranch. 
From the Dutch. — Yacht, sloop, ballast, boom, reef. 
From the Italian. — Bust, cartoon, ruffian, bravado. 
From the American Indian. — Potato, tobacco, wigwam. 
From the Arabic. — Alchemy, algebra, alembic, jasper. 
From the French. — Soiree, depot, prestige. 
Front the Language of Ceylon. — Mango. 
From the Hindoo. — Bandanna, punch, toddy. 
From the Polynesian. — Taboo. 
From the Malay. — Bamboo. 

Apply Knowledge of Other Languages. — It is not 

intended to give the pupil lists of prefixes and termi- 
nations to be committed to memory : for he will soon 
learn by observation that -er and -or denote the actor 
{painter, one who paints); that a- or ab- means from ; 
ad-, to ; con-, together ; anti-, against ; and ante-, before ; 
and that un- and in- mean not. We shall not even ask 
the pupil to memorize the principal foreign roots that 
have become parts of English words. No instruction 
in foreign languages will be undertaken here. 

The object of this chapter is to show the relation 
between English and foreign languages, and to explain 
the advantage of a knowledge of other languages in 
investigating the origin and history of English words. 
The student is urged to apply all that he knows of other 
languages, especially Latin, French, and Greek, in study- 
ing the derivation and definition of English words. 



32 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

As has already been stated in this chapter, etymology, 
when scientifically pursued, necessitates some knowl- 
edge of all Aryan languages. When told this, many 
pupils will be apt to conclude that the study of ety- 
mology is beyond their power, at least while they are 
in school. But even in school work, etymology can 
be made very useful, if the scholar can only be trained 
to look carefully into the formation of words, to divide 
them into their component parts, separating the termi- 
nations and prefixes from the stem, or root, on which 
the word is built, and from the meaning of the parts 
derive the meaning of the word. 

The extent to which the analysis of English words 
can be carried depends upon the knowledge which the 
student possesses of those languages from which Eng- 
lish words have been derived. However, everything 
that the student knows about the derivation and history 
of a word will help him to appreciate the meaning of 
that word when it is used by others, and to use it more 
intelligently himself. 

Interesting Derivations. — Often a flood of light is 
let in upon the meaning of a word by the knowledge 
of a very simple fact with regard to its history. For 
instance, how much vividness is added to the meaning 
of the noun caprice, or the adjective capricious, when 
we notice their derivation from the Latin capra (a goat). 
Possibly the derivation by itself will not give a clear 
definition of the adjective urbane ; but when told that 
it refers to manners, we need only know that it is 
derived from the Latin urbs (a city). A polite man is 
one who has had the roughness of his nature made 
smooth and agreeable to others, as is seen from its 
original politics, the past participle of the Latin verb 



ENGLISH WORDS. 33 

polere (to polish). Archbishop Trench says in his lec- 
tures on the study of words : — 

" Let me illustrate my meaning more at length by the word 
1 tribulation.' We all know in a general way that this word, 
which occurs not seldom in Scripture and in the Liturgy, 
means affliction, sorrow, anguish ; but it is quite worth our 
while to know how it means this, and to question i tribulation ' 
a little closer. It is derived from the Latin ' tribulum] which 
was the threshing instrument or harrow, whereby the Roman 
husbandman separated the corn from the husks ; and ' tribu- 
latio ' in its primary signification was the act of this separation. 
But some Latin writer of the Christian Church appropriated 
the word and image for the setting forth of a higher truth ; 
and sorrow, distress, and adversity being the appointed means 
for the separating in men of whatever in them was light, 
trivial, and poor from the solid and the true, their chaff from 
their wheat, he therefore called these sorrows and trials ' tribu- 
lations/ threshings, that is, of the inner spiritual man, without 
which there could be no fitting him for the heavenly garner. 

" ' Rivals ' properly are those who dwell on the banks of the 
same river. But as all experience shows, there is no such 
fruitful source of contention as a water right, and these would 
be often at strife with one another in regard of the periods 
during which they severally had a right to the use of the 
stream, turning it off into their own fields before the time, or 
leaving open the sluices beyond the time, or in other ways 
interfering, or being counted to interfere, with the rights of 
their neighbors. And in this way ' rivals ' came to be applied 
to any who were on any grounds in unfriendly competition 
with one another." 

With these illustrations in mind, it is hoped that the 
student will find a new interest in tracing the derivation 
of words. 

SCH. ENG. — 3 



34 



SCHOOL ENGLISH. 



EXERCISES IN DERIVATIONS. 



Look up the following words in the dictionary, and explain 
their present meaning in the light of their derivation : — 



Investigation 


Simple 


Complex 


Cynosure 


Duplicity 


Compound 


Refection 


Ferry 


Transport 


Restaurant 


Chivalry 


Utopia 


Culture 


Auction 


Victuals 


Rejoice 


Sinecure 


Passion 


Current 


Magnify 


Traitor 


Tandem 


Microscope 


Soprano 


Translation 


Ranch 


Laconic 


Window 


Civilize 


Tantalize 


Libertine 


Suavity 

SUMMARY. 


Welcome 



From the foregoing pages we have seen that a knowl- 
edge of English words can be gained — 

1 . By constant reading of the best English authors. 

2. By the use of the dictionary. 

3. By the study of etymology and those languages from 
which English words have been derived. 

We now proceed to a classification of the errors made 
in the use of words, with a view to avoiding these errors 
in our own writing. 



CHAPTER II. 

CORRECTION OF ERRORS IN THE USE OF WORDS. 

Requirements of Good Diction. — The subject which 
treats of the choice and use of words is called diction. 
The requirements of good diction have been summed 
up under three heads, known as purity, propriety, and 
precision. These terms are not used to cover the same 
ground by all writers on rhetoric. But, when confined 
to the subject of English diction, we may say : — 

Purity reqirires every word used to be good English. 
Propriety requires the selection of a word that will express 
the meaning intejided. Precision requires the writer to 
select, from those words which in a measure express the 
intended meaning, the one which best expresses that 
meaning. 

Errors in the use of words will be treated as violations 
of these three requisites. 

PURITY. 

Different Opinions. — Some authorities maintain that, 
without reference to origin or former usage, it is per- 
missible to use any word that an intelligent reader or 
listener will understand ; and that, if a writer can coin 
a new word that will convey his meaning better than any 
word already in use, he is doing good service to the lan- 
guage by using one of his own coining. Those writers 

35 



36 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

who are known as purists would exclude from English 
composition all words distinctly foreign, and all those 
not used by a majority of the best authors. 

A Distinction to be made. — The truth is, that purity 
is one of the most difficult subjects on which to lay 
down rules ; for the same rule will not apply to all 
classes of writers. We must make a distinction be- 
tween writers whose usage would add to the authority 
for a word, and writers whose usage would have no 
weight. The great masters of English literature have 
borrowed many words from other languages, and coined 
others to meet the needs of their thought. These inno- 
vations have been adopted by later writers, and become 
good English. In this way the language has grown, 
and developed its present rich vocabulary. To forbid 
and effectually prevent this coining and borrowing, would 
be to check the growth of the language ; and this would 
be undesirable, even if it were possible. 

Safest Rule. — Genius is not to be bound by rules of 
rhetoric ; but an attempt to coin or borrow words, on the 
part of one whose genius has not been acknowledged 
by others, must be considered unwise and presumptuous. 
Therefore the safest rule for the vast majority of writers, 
certainly for those still at school, is to use only those 
words that are in use by standard authors. 

Information in Dictionaries. — To determine, from liter- 
ature, whether a word is or is not in use by standard 
authors, would involve a vast amount of reading. There- 
fore questions in regard to the standing of words can 
best be settled by reference to a large dictionary, such 
as the " Century Dictionary," Webster's " International 
Dictionary," and Worcester's " Unabridged Diction- 
ary." 



CORRECTION OF ERRORS IN USE OF WORDS. 37 

One of the most important elements in the work of 
compiling or revising these dictionaries is to give 
accurate and the latest information with reference to the 
standing of words. If a word is not in the dictionary, we 
may safely conclude that it is not good English. If it is 
there, but printed in Italics, or with two bars before it, 
as in the " International Dictionary," it is from a foreign 
language, and not yet domesticated. If not in Italics, or 
otherwise marked as foreign, and not followed by any 
note with reference to its use, it is in good usage. Words 
about whose standing there is some question are followed 
by a note indicating the objection to their use. 

Look up the following words in the " International 
Dictionary," and notice after each word the remarks 
referring to its use : — 



Agriculturalist 


Compulsatory 


Indecided 


Alumnus 


Cortege 


Mugwump 


Authoress 


Darky 


Preventative 


Bogus 


Dude 


Talented 



Taste in the Choice of Words. — Literary critics and 
writers on rhetoric often give lists of words which they 
condemn ; and later writers have followed or copied the 
original lists without ascertaining whether or not, in the 
time intervening, the language has adopted any of these 
words. Because Mr. Bryant thirty-five or forty years 
ago would not allow certain words to be used in the 
" Evening Post," it does not follow that none of these 
are in good standing to-day. 

It may, however, be better to use one of two words, 
and yet not incorrect to use the other. In writing, as 
in all other work, the success attained and the pleasure 
given depend largely on the exercise of taste. Taste in 
the use of language cannot be acquired by learning 



38 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

rules and lists of words, but only through acquaintance 
with the writings of those whose taste is worthy to be 
followed. In order, however, to guard against errors, 
the strictest rule is the safest rule for those whose youth 
and opportunities have prevented them from securing a 
wide acquaintance with English literature. 

Rule. — Purity requires the selection of such words 
as are used by the best English authors of the present 
age. 

Application to School English. — Though the use of 
foreign words is the most flagrant and annoying fault 
of many literary men, especially those who contribute 
to our magazines, it is a matter of fact that school- 
boys very seldom introduce foreign words into their 
writing. Schoolgirls who have a slight knowledge of 
French, especially those who have spent a year or two 
abroad, often make a bad mixture of their French and 
English. This is not a fault due to ignorance, but is 
generally made with conscious effort. The direction, 
then, to use no foreign words is sufficient without any 
accompanying examples. 

The rule for purity is also violated by the use of obso- 
lete words or by the use of newly coined words ; but there 
is scarcely any danger of its being violated in this way 
by those who study this book. The warning most neces- 
sary here is against the use of vulgarisms and slang, or 
words that in one way or another have come into the con- 
versation of various classes of people, but are not found 
in the writing of standard authors. 

Slang. — Unfortunately, slang is much used in the 
American newspapers, and this fact accounts for the 
confusion between good and bad English in the vocabu- 



CORRECTION OF ERRORS IN USE OF WORDS. 39 

lary of those whose chief reading is from the columns 
of our daily papers. 

Slang is often in place, and is frequently used by 
good writers, to the entertainment of the readers ; but 
such matter is generally put into the mouth of a char- 
acter not supposed to be speaking good English. It is 
damaging for an author to resort to slang in any writ- 
ing that is to be taken for his own speech and thought. 

PROPRIETY. 

Rule. — Propriety requires the selection of a word that 
will express the intended meaning. 

Improprieties. — A violation of propriety consists in 
using a word in a sense not given it by good writers, 
and is called an impropriety. Mistakes of this sort are 
the inevitable result of lack of education. Words are 
edged tools ; and it requires an apprenticeship to be 
able to handle them without cutting one's self. The 
most pitiable mistakes of uneducated preachers and 
public speakers are in propriety. Often, in the midst 
of a lofty period, a word used in an improper sense 
renders the sentence ridiculous. 

The rule for propriety is violated — 

(a) By confusing words resembling each other in 
appearance or sound. 

Violation. — The room was luxuriantly furnished. 
Correction. — The room was luxuriously furnished. 

(b) By using words in a sense insufficiently resembling 
their correct meaning. 

Violation. — Franklin invented electricity. 
Correction. — Franklin discovered electricity. 



40 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

Violation. — I expect you were wet through in the storm this 
morning. 

Correction. — I suppose you were wet through in the storm this 
morning. 

Note. — Prepositions are used to connect words and to show 
the relations between them. Though in many instances different 
prepositions may be used interchangeably without materially alter- 
ing the sense, mistakes are often made through failure to appreciate 
the real signification of prepositions. For example, to is used after 
the verb co7npare when the object of the comparison is to show a like- 
ness ; but when the object is to find the relative merits or to show 
contrast, the proper preposition is with. Thus we say that David 
compared the love of God for those that fear him to the pity of a 
father for his children ; but we say that one plan is compared with 
another, or that the thoughts of man are nothing when compared 
with those of God. 

EXAMPLES FOR CORRECTION. 

Correct the following sentences by substituting the proper 
word, and explain the violation : — 

i. He feared the men would get into an alteration over 
the question. 

2. He gave pacific directions. 

3. The observance of this fact saved them from accident. 

4. He surrounded the calvary and alluded his pursuers. 

5. The cup was filled to completion. 

6. His appliance for the position was refused. 

7. The veracity of this fact was not to be questioned. 

8. Electricity was invented by Franklin. 

9. This fruit is healthy. 

10. The child was not wholesome. 

n. The child was not healthful. 

12. He excepted the invitation. 

13. He never told a lie. He was voracity itself. 

14. The poems were dedicated to the Prince Console. 

15. He was U. S. Council at Berlin for two years. 



CORRECTION OF ERRORS IN USE OF WORDS. 4 1 

16. The number of electors is proscribed by law. 

1 7. This is an incredulous statement. 

18. I am afraid he was trying to aggravate his father by his 
actions. 

19. The judicious opinion of the court. 

20. He ought to have consulted his consul before going 
to law. 

21. How will the election effect prices? 

22. Eugene Aram strove, by a life of self-denial and gentle- 
ness, to expatiate the crime of murder committed in his youth. 

23. The contraction for the new building was awarded to a 
New England firm. 

24. She was a very illiteral woman, and made many mistakes 
in the use of words. 

PRECISION. 

Rule. — Precision requires that we select, from those 
words which in a measure express the intended meaning, 
the word which exactly expresses that meaning. 

Synonyms. — In every language there are a number 
of words of very nearly the same significance. These 
words are known as synonyms, a name taken from the 
Greek. De Quincey says, " All languages tend to clear 
themselves of synonyms as intellectual culture advances, 
the superfluous words being taken up and appropriated 
by new shades and combinations of thought evolved 
in the progress of society.'' Thus we find that there 
is often a very fine distinction to be made in the choice 
of words. 

Derivation. — Precision is derived from the Latin 
prae-cidere (to cut off). The derivative significance is 
seen in the fact that the right word cuts off what we 
do not wish to express. There is generally, among the 



42 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

synonyms afforded by the language, a word that will 
express our meaning more nearly than any other word 
will express it. Precision requires that we find that 
word. 

Violations of Precision. — Mistakes in propriety are 
caused by gross ignorance. Precision is more difficult 
of attainment, and can be acquired only by constant 
study of good authors, and by cultivating the power of 
criticising one's own use of language. If a person 
always uses exactly the right word in the right place, 
we say he has a command of language. 

The rule for precision is violated by using a word 
which fails to express our meaning as well as some 
synonym of that word would express it. 

Violation. — He is a very smart man. 
Correction. — He is a very clever man. 

Note. — Smart may refer to clothes, but clever excludes all but 
the quality to be expressed. 

Violation. — Mr. Moody is a very peculiar man. 
Correction. — Mr. Moody is a very remarkable man. 

Note. — If we wish to express eccentricity of appearance or 
character, peculiar is the better word to use ; but to indicate the 
possession of wonderful gifts, re7narkable is better. 

Distinguish between the meanings of the sentences 
in each of the following groups : — 

i. His collection of the British Poets was entire. 
His collection of the British Poets was complete. 
His collection of the British Poets was whole. 

2. She wore a very quaint dress. 
She wore a very peculiar dress. 
She wore a very remarkable dress. 
She wore a very extraordinary dress. 



CORRECTION OF ERRORS IN USE OF WORDS. 43 

3. He was preparing for the contest with his enemy. 
He was preparing for the contest with his opponent. 
He was preparing for the contest with his adversary. 
He was preparing for the contest with his antagonist. 

4. The house has been empty for a year. 
The house has been vacant for a year. 
The house has been unoccupied for a year. 
The house has been uninhabited for a year. 

5. He made an equitable distribution of his estate. 
He made an equable distribution of his estate. 

Words originally of One Meaning. — The English 
language has in its vocabulary words from the Latin 
and words from the Anglo-Saxon, which originally de- 
noted the same idea ; but words are too scarce to 
allow two to do the work assigned for one, and time 
has gradually brought about distinct uses for each. 
No matter how nearly alike the definitions of two 
words may be, there will always be found cases where 
one word will not perfectly replace the other. The 
differentiation is very evident in the words corpse and 
body. Though the Latin corpus once had the same 
extent of meaning as the Anglo-Saxon word, at present 
corpse cannot be used with reference to anything but 
a dead body. In the following extract from Scott's 
" Ivanhoe," the words swine and pork, ox and beef, 
calf and veal, are given as illustrations of this prin- 
ciple. Sheep and mutton might also have been added. 

[from "ivanhoe," CHAPTER I.] 

" Why, how call you those grunting brutes running about on 
their four legs?" demanded Wamba. 

" Swine, fool, swine," said the herd ; " every fool knows 
that," 



44 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

"And swine is good Saxon/' said the jester; "but how call 
you the sow when she is flayed, and drawn and quartered, and 
hung up by the heejs like a traitor? " 

" Pork," answered the swineherd. 

" I am very glad every fool knows that, too," said Wamba ; 
" and pork, I think, is good Norman- French : and so when 
the brute lives, and is in the charge of a Saxon slave, she goes 
by her Saxon name, but becomes a Norman, and is called 
Pork, when she is carried to the castle hall to feast among the 
nobles. What dost thou think of this, friend Gurth, ha?" 

" It is but too true doctrine, friend Wamba, however it got 
into thy fool's pate." 

" Nay, I can tell you more," said Wamba in the same tone. 
"There is old Alderman Ox continues to hold his Saxon 
epithet while he is under the charge of serfs and bondsmen 
such as thou, but becomes Beef, a fiery French gallant, when 
he arrives before the worshipful jaws that are destined to con- 
sume him. Mynheer Calf, too, becomes Monsieur de Veau in 
the like manner : he is Saxon when he requires tendance, and 
takes a Norman name when he becomes matter of enjoyment." 

Words of nearly the Same Meaning. — The word far 
has two comparatives, farther and further. However, 
they are not absolutely interchangeable. Farther is now 
confined to denote greater extent of space, while further 
applies more properly to cases where the idea of space 
is less evident or figurative. We say, "Two miles 
farther up the road," but "He prolonged the discussion 
further than I had intended." 

Perhaps the words boy and lad are as near alike in 
meaning as any other two English words (excepting, of 
course, such pairs of words as unfrequent and infre- 
quent, which are absolutely identical in meaning) ; but 
we do not speak of a lad baby, though, by substituting 



CORRECTION OF ERRORS IN USE OF WORDS. 45 

boy for lad in this phrase, it is well understood. In a 
trial in Brooklyn, the lawyer asked the witness why he 
admitted that he was sure of a given matter, and yet 
refused to say that he was certain. The witness replied, 
" I am sure the sun will rise to-morrow, I am certain it 
rose this morning " ; thus illustrating a fine but actual 
distinction between the two words. 

May and Can, Shall and Will, etc. — The rule for 
precision is often violated by failure to make the proper 
distinction between the meanings of the auxiliaries, may 
and can, shall and will, would and should. May implies 
permission or probability. / may go means either / 
have permission to go, or There is a cha7ice of my going. 
Can implies ability or power. / can read means / am 
able to read. He may read means He has permission to 
read. May I leave the room ? is equivalent to Have I 
permission to leave the room ? He may do as he wishes 
implies that no one will object. He can do as he pleases 
implies that he has the power to do so. 

Shall and will are stumbling blocks to many writers, 
and yet it is not difficult to understand the distinction 
between the meaning of these words. To denote sim- 
ple futurity without implying any compelling force, the 
first person takes the auxiliary shall ; the second and 
third persons, the auxiliary will. 

Ex. I shall be happy. We shall be happy. 

You will be happy. You will be happy. 

He will be happy. They will be happy. 

In questions, however, the proper auxiliary in the 
second person is shall ; as, Shall yon go to-morrow? 

The forms given just above are examples of the sim- 
ple future statement. If we wish to add the idea of a 



46 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

compelling force, or of determination or obligation, the 
proper auxiliary for the first person is will ; for the sec- 
ond and third persons, shall. 

Ex. I will go means I am determined to go. 

You shall go " You must go. 

He shall go " He must go. 

We will go " We are determined to go. 

You shall go " You must go. 

They shall go " They must go. 

/ shall have satisfaction means that the satisfaction 
will come in the course of time. 

/ will have satisfaction means / am determined to 
have it. 

The Ten Commandments illustrate the force of shall 
in the second and third persons. 

Ex. Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal. 

The command is changed to a simple future state- 
ment, when we substitute wilt for shalt ; as, Thou wilt 
not kill. Thou wilt not steal. 

The simple forms of the conditional mood have should 
for all persons. If I should go, If he should go, If we 
should go, If they should go, are simple conditional state- 
ments. When the idea of willingness is also included, 
the proper auxiliary is zvould. If I would go, If he would 
go, If they would go, mean, If I should be willing to go, 
If he should be willing to go, etc. 

Distinguish between the following pairs of sen- 
tences : — 

I shall come. 
I will come. 

You may use this machine. 
You can use this machine. 



CORRECTION OF ERRORS IN USE OF WORDS. 47 

He shall not leave until he apologizes. 
He will not leave until he apologizes. 

I shall be there to introduce you. 
I will be there to introduce you. 

If they should come, there would be no difficulty in carrying this 
through. 

If they would come, there would be no difficulty in carrying this 
through. 

EXAMPLES FOR CORRECTION. 

Correct the errors in precision in the following sentences by 
substituting synonyms which will more exactly express the 
intended meaning : — 

1. I am going to take up medicine for a business. 

2. In what portion of the town does he live? 

3. Were your instructions oral, or written? 

4. I will try to tell you shortly (meaning, in few words). 

5. I avow my guilt in this matter. 

6. There was an insurmountable difficulty in the way. 

7. For sale. — A whole set of the Aldine edition of English 
Poets. 

8. Children seldom have sufficient food. 

9. We should allow enough time for our plans to mature. 

10. The prisoner has abandoned his wife and children. 

11. The chairman of the committee abdicated his office. 

12. Will you show me this example in algebra? 

13. He was obliged to select one of three party com- 
manders. 

14. I instinctively avoid any such public attention. 

15. The army deserted the position at daybreak. 

16. (In a debate) I suppose that my enemies will insist on 
further proof of this. 

17. I seldom found him indolent; he was not of an idle 
disposition. 



48 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

1 8. After a long argument, I at last persuaded him that he 
had been mistaken. 

19. The chandelier should be hung from the middle of the 
ceiling. • 

20. The sanatory regulations were disregarded by the major- 
ity of householders. 

21. He is a perfect brute in his manners, and a beast in his 
treatment of his children. 

22. The railroad train was moving along at a very rapid 
gait. 

23. Will I be contented when I get this done? 

24. If this would be found, it would be all right. 

MISCELLANEOUS EXAMPLES OF ERRORS IN THE USE OF 

WORDS. 

Correct the errors * in diction in the following sentences, and 
explain what requirement is violated by each : — 

1. He was a minister in the Episcopalian church. 

2. My husband is very much dictated to drink. 

3. There was a great quantity of people there. 

4. It seems to me there was a good deal of bunkum in his 
speech. 

5. He deeded the property to his wife. 

6. The brutalness of this action was beyond human con- 
ception. 

7. I expect there has been some underhand work there. 

8. He was ketcher 2 on the base-ball nine. 

9. Her daughter's health was not in the least delicate, but 
she was really very indelicate. 

10. Three boys in the graduating class were demoted to the 
lower form. 

1 If the error in any sentence is not readily detected, the student should 
consult the dictionary for the meaning of the words not familiar to him. 

2 Not often written, but often spoken. 




CORRECTION OF ERRORS IN USE OF WORDS. 49 

11. When asked to describe his symptoms, he replied that 
he had a very funny pain in his side. 

12. He is an extremely exceptable preacher. 

13. He stood at the end l of his class. 

14. Mr. Brown is a most impractical man. 

15. The journey was found to be unpracticable. 

16. I found him very social in his disposition. 

1 7. Their method of attack was most unjudicious. 

18. He wrote an essay on the counsels of the Church of 
Rome. 

19. His opponent stood at twenty paces from him with 
revolver drawn and loaded. 

20. The sermon concluded with an example from actual life 
of the way in which God cares for man's happiness. 

2 1 . Othello then stifles his wife with a pillow. 

22. Let us take an hypothecated case. 

23. Neither one or the other will suit me. 

24. At that point another engine was telegraphed for, and 
further up the road the train was divided into two sections, and 
in that way reached New York. 

25. They heartlessly discarded the feelings of all most deeply 
concerned. 

26. The swimmer was attacked with cramps, lost conscience, 
and sank in a few seconds. 

27. Though delicate in health, she accomplishes more 
than stronger girls, for she is a great preservative of her 
energies. 

28. He was thankful, though it only gave an instant relief. 
The pain began anew in a few seconds. 

29. I was disappointed at the way the new preacher con- 
ducted the morning service. His prayers showed great lack of 
spiritualism. 



1 If any word is less exact in expressing the intended meaning than 
another word would be, there is an error in precision. 
sch. eng. — 4 



CHAPTER III. 
CORRECTION OF ERRORS IN CONSTRUCTION. 

Rhetoric and Grammar. — Grammar treats of the 
arrangement and construction of words in a sentence, 
and the changes of form which words undergo in order 
to show their construction. Since the object of the 
study of rhetoric is to enable one to present ideas in 
such language that they may be apprehended with the 
least possible effort, rhetoric of course requires that 
our ideas be expressed with grammatical correctness. 

Solecisms. — Experience shows that mistakes in gram- 
mar persist even in the writings of those who have 
attained excellence of style. It is observed, also, that 
these mistakes are usually violations of the same few 
rules. Writers on rhetoric, therefore, include in their 
works a chapter reminding the student of certain rules 
of grammar which are most often violated. Gram- 
matical errors, when viewed as part of the subject of 
rhetoric, are called solecisms, a word derived from Soli, 
a city in Cilicia, inhabited by Greek colonists who spoke 
a corrupt dialect. 

Danger in Use of Long Sentences. — A practical rule 
of the greatest value for avoiding errors in grammatical 
construction is the habitual use of sJiort sentences. The 
long sentence is especially fatal to the novice in the art 
of composition. The fair promise of the first two or 
three lines in which all the rules of grammar have due 
observance is seldom sustained to the end. Without 

5° 



CORRECTION OF ERRORS IN CONSTRUCTION 51 

the slightest provocation, the parts of speech plunge 
into confusion quite beyond the reach of syntax. 

Never allow the length of a sentence to help it become 
unmanageable. With this end in view, a good rule to 
follow in revising what you have already written, is to 
cut every long sentence into two. Absolute correct- 
ness is difficult to attain even with this safeguard. As 
English has lost almost all its inflection, and as gram- 
matical construction is determined almost exclusively 
by the order of the words, a grammatical slip is easy 
even when the sentence is short. 

Twenty Rules of Grammar. — The following twenty 
rules of grammar are frequently violated. Under each 
rule are given the ways in which that rule is apt to 
be violated. For aid in memorizing, it may be noticed 
that the first seven rules refer to nouns or pronouns ; 
Nos. 8 to 11, to verbs; Nos. 12 to 17, to adjectives and 
adverbs; No. 18, to prepositions; No. 19, to connec- 
tives ; and No. 20, to the sentence as a whole. 

I. Some domesticated foreign words retain their origi- 
nal plurals. 

This rule is often violated by using plurals in s for 
domesticated foreign words which retain original plurals. 

Violation. — Vertebras, axises. 
Correction. — Vertebrae, axes. 

The following is a list of foreign words which retain 
original plurals : — 

(a) From the Latin. 

Singular. Plural. Singular. Plural. 

Axis, axes. Effluvium, effluvia. 

Basis, bases. Genius (a spirit), genii. 

Crisis, crises. Genus, genera. 



52 



SCHOOL ENGLISH. 



Singular. 


Plural. 


Singular. 


Plural. 


Maximum, 


maxima. 


Stimulus, 


stimuli. 


Minimum, 


minima. 


Terminus, 


termini. 


Nebula, 


nebulae. 


Vertebra, 


vertebrae. 


Oasis, 


oases. 








(b) From the 


Greek. 




Singular. 


Plural. 


Singular. 


Plural. 


Analysis, 


analyses. 


Parenthesis, 


parentheses. 


Chrysalis, 


chrysalides. 


Phenomenon, 


phenomena. 


Diaeresis, 


diaereses. 


Synthesis, 


syntheses. 


Hypothesis, 


hypotheses. 


Thesis, 


theses. 


Metamorphosis. 


, metamorphoses. 







Note. — The plurals of these words, and the original plurals of 
domesticated words with regular plurals in s, are sometimes incor- 
rectly used for the singular forms. 

Ex. A phenomena, a stamina, a genera, for a phenomenon, a stamen, 
a genus. 

EXAMPLES FOR CORRECTION. 

i. There were several genuses discovered. 

2. He found a vertebrae of a whale. 

3. The terminuses of the road were not at central points. 

4. This desert has few oasises. 

5. Their thesises were not on the same subject. 

6. Nebulas are cloudlike in appearance. 

7. Every man has many crisises in his life. 

8. I do not wish to argue from any of your hypothesises. 

II. The subject of a finite verb is in the nominative. 
This rule is often violated — 

(a) By using the objective case of the subject after 
verbs of saying, thinking, and the like. 

Violation. — Those whom he fancied would be his friends were 
his bitterest enemies. 

Correction. — Those who he fancied would be his friends were 
his bitterest enemies. 



CORRECTION OF ERRORS IN CONSTRUCTION. 53 

(b) By using the objective case after as or than intro- 
ducing a new subject. 

Violation. — You know this as well as me. 
Correction. — You know this as well as I (do). 

EXAMPLES FOR CORRECTION. 

i. He is taller than me. 

2. He is not one whom I thought would do this. 

3. She is further advanced than him. 

4. I have found a man whom I think will suit. 

5. The politicians whom he said would support the bill 
failed to appear. 

6. She seemed to be much poorer than him. 

7. Many men have lived to see the folly of confiding in 
whomever would receive their confidence. 

8. They can afford to give much better than us. 

9. Why won't mother answer as well as me? 

10. The ladies whom I feared would object were not 
there. 

III. The predicate after the verb to be, or other verb 
expressing existence, is in the same case as the sub- 
ject. 

This rule is violated — 

(a) By using the objective case of the predicate after 
a finite verb. 

Violation. — He thought they were us. 
Correction. — He thought they were we. 

ib) By using the nominative case of the predicate 
after the infinitive mood. 

Violation. — He supposed it to be I. 
Correction. — He supposed it to be me. 



54 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

EXAMPLES FOR CORRECTION. 

i. It surely must be them. 

2. I had supposed that it was us whom he meant. 

3. I understood it was her. 

4. That it was him, no one doubted. 

5. Do you believe that to be he ? 

6. Here they come ! Yes, those are them. 

7. Whom do you think I am ? 

8. Who did she understand it to be, that had the matter in 
charge for us ? 

9. Probably it will be me that he will call next time. 
to. It was I that said so, not her. 

IV. The object of a verb or preposition is in the objec- 
tive case. 

This rule is violated* — 

(a) By using the nominative for an object pronoun 
connected by a conjunction to a noun. 

Violation. — Will you allow James and I to study together ? 
Correction. — Will you allow James and me to study together ? 

(b) By using the nominative for the objective of a 
relative governed by a preposition at the end of a 
clause. 

Violation. — Who did you intend this for ? 
Correction. — Whom did you intend this for ? 

EXAMPLES FOR CORRECTION. 

i. This is for John and I to practice on. 

2. He loved both you and I alike. 

3. Who can one trust in ? 

4. Who did you mistake him for ? 

5. Nobody was allowed inside except father and I. 



CORRECTION OF ERRORS IN CONSTRUCTION. 55 

6. Every one but she received something from the com- 
mittee. 

7. She refused to let Mary and I go with the others. 

8. Whoever this may be for, he must let me know at once. 

V. All nouns in the singular^ and nouns in the plural 
not ending in s, form the possessive by adding apostrophe 
and s. Plural nouns ending in s add the apostropJie 
alone. Definite pronouns do not take an apostrophe in 
the possessive case. 

Note. — Some authorities say that words of more than one sylla- 
ble, and ending in an s or z sound, may omit the possessive s to 
avoid repetition of hissing letters. Goodness, conscience, Jesus, and 
a few other proper names, always form the possessive singular with 
the apostrophe only. The indefinite pronouns one, other, etc., take 
the apostrophe and s. 

This rule is violated — 

(a) By using the apostrophe alone after singular 
nouns ending in one or two j's. 

Violation. — Witness', Jones 1 . 
Correction. — Witness's, Jones's. 

(b) By using the plural form for the possessive form. 

Violation. — Witnesses, Joneses. 
Correction. — Witness's, Jones's. 

Note. — Nouns connected by conjunctions and implying com- 
mon possession take the possessive sign but once, and that on the 
last noun ; but when not implying common possession each noun 
must have the sign. 

Ex. Harrison and Morton's campaign. 
Wade and Butcher's razors. 

Cleveland's and Harrison's administrations. 
Men's, boys', and children's suits. 



56 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

EXAMPLES FOR CORRECTION. 

i. The ladies trains were too long. 

2. Five month's supplies were exhausted. 

3. Seabury's and Johnson's plasters. 

4. James and John's letters crossed on the way. 

5. Come quickly, for goodness's sake ! 

6. This book is her's, not your's. 

7. This we ask for Jesus's sake. 

8. We use a Wheeler's and Wilson's sewing machine. 

9. This will recompense for ones early misfortunes. 
10. Is that their's? 

VI. A noun or pronoun limiting another noun is put 
in the possessive case, unless a preposition is used. 

This rule is violated — 

(a) By using the objective case in place of the pos- 
sessive to limit a verbal noun. 

Violation. — The fact of us remaining need make no difference 
to you. 

Correction. — The fact of our remaining need make no difference 
to you. 

(b) By using an object after a verbal noun not an 
infinitive. 

Violation. — He attended to the soliciting subscriptions. 
Correction. — He attended to the soliciting of subscriptions, or 
to soliciting subscriptions. 

EXAMPLES FOR CORRECTION. 

i. He saw the effect of them giving. 

2. He concluded the giving the money was unwise. 

3. The accident of the discovering the value of anthracite 
was extremely fortunate. 

4. Her plans were altered by her husband leaving for Europe. 



CORRECTION OF ERRORS IN CONSTRUCTION. 57 

5. Don't worry about us taking cold. 

6. He is afraid to stand on the party platform for fear of it 
breaking. 

7. He tried all means to stop them investigating his 
record. 

8. He favored the closing the World's Fair on Sundays. 

9. The passage of the bill was delayed by the committee 
failing to report that session. 

10. This must be the end of you attempting to control their 
movements. 

VII. Pronouns agree with their antecedents in number 
and person. 

Note. — Who refers to persons only. 

Which refers to impersonal antecedents. 
That refers to any antecedent. 

This rule is violated — 

{a) By using a plural pronoun referring to some such 
word as each, any one, every one, etc. 

Violation. — If every one were convinced of their error. 
Correction. — If every one were convinced of his error. 

The following is a list of words often incorrectly 
referred to as plural : — 



Any one 


Everybody 


One 


Anybody 


Many a one 


Somebody 


Each 


Neither 


Something 


Either 


None 





None meaning not one is singular ; but none meaning 
not any may be plural. 

Ex. None dares meet him in single combat. 

Several promised to come, but none were there. 



58 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

(b) By using a pronoun without any real antecedent, 
the supposed antecedent being a syllable, or an idea in 
some previous word. 

Violation. — He complimented him, which he returned. 

Correction. — He complimented him, and he returned the com- 
pliment. 

Violation — The lance of the Knight fastened itself in the bars 
of his opponent's helmet, which unseated the latter. 

Correction. — The lance of the Knight fastened itself in the bars 
of his opponent's helmet, and the shock unseated the latter. 

Note — Often such sentences as the one just given are cor- 
rected by substituting a demonstrative pronoun for the relative. 
But a demonstrative pronoun also stands for a noun, and cannot 
be correctly used when there is no antecedent noun or substan- 
tive clause. Therefore, if we rewrite the sentence thus, — The lance 
of the Knight fastened itself in the bars of his opponents helmet, 
and this unseated the latter, — we have still to ask what noun the 
pronoun this refers to. 

EXAMPLES FOR CORRECTION. 

i. Not a boy of the entire number knew their own name. 

2. The captain began to address the company, which they 
applauded loudly. 

3. If anyone is in favor of this, let them hold up their 
hands. 

4. Neither clerk had their accounts straight. 

5. Each man tried to exculpate themselves and to throw 
the blame on their companions. 

6. Every one was looking out for themselves. 

7. He slept more soundly than usual, which makes us hope 
he will soon be much better. 

8. Each of the children had an orange to take to their 
homes. 

9. Not a single one had the least idea what they had come 
for. 



CORRECTION OF ERRORS IN CONSTRUCTION. 59 

10. A solitary woman was sweeping away by the light of the 
lamps, for which when she had finished she would receive a franc. 

n. Mohun and the Lord Castlewood were great card 
players, which in a short time resulted in the loss of most of 
Castlewood's money. 

VIII. Verbs agree with their subjects in member and 
pei'son. 

When a verb relates to the separate individuals in- 
cluded in a collective noun, the verb is in the plural 
number ; when relating to the collection as a whole, the 
verb is in the singular. 

Ex. The Senate is in session. 

The crew reach the shore, some on boards and some on spars. 
A flock of birds flies above the house. 
The committee acts promptly. 

This rule is violated — 

(a) By using a plural verb with every one, each y any 
one, etc. 1 

Violation. — Nearly every one we knew were going. 
Correction. — Nearly every one we knew was going. 

(b) By using a plural verb with a subject plural in 
form but singular in meaning, or a singular verb with a 
collective noun conveying the idea of plurality. 

Violation. — The news have arrived. 

Correctioii. — The news has arrived. 

Violation. — The majority of the members is in favor of this 
resolution. 

Correction. — The majority of the members are in favor of this 
resolution. 

1 For caution as to the number of the pronoun none, see remark under 
Rule VII. 



60 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

(c) By using don't (do not) with a subject in the third 
person singular. 

Violation. — He don't improve much. 
Correction. — He doesn't improve much. 

id) By using a plural verb when a plural adjunct 
comes between a singular subject and its verb. 

Violation. — A succession of accidents have discouraged him. 
Correction. — A succession of accidents has discouraged him. 

EXAMPLES FOR CORRECTION. 

i. The energy of all oppose him. 

2. Many a woman have learned this to their sorrow. 

3. Each of the officers were suspected. 

4. Nothing but disappointed hopes remain to them. 

5. Caesar with his veterans have conquered Gaul. 

6. Every point, and there were many, were tipped with flame. 

7. The greater part of the members is opposed to him. 

8. The meaning of all these derivatives and compounds 
are self-evident. 

9. Vaccination is one of the most valuable discoveries that 
has been made in modern times. 

10. The encouragement of education and philanthropy were 
the chief objects of his life. 

11. Neither one example nor the other were a fair illustra- 
tion of the case. 

12. Though they listened with great attention, not one of 
them were convinced. 

IX. In subordinate clauses the tense of the verb is 
relative to the tense of the principal verb. 

This rule is violated by using a perfect infinitive or 
perfect subjunctive after a past tense. 

Violation. — He intended to have done so. 
Correction. — He intended to do so. 



CORRECTION OF ERRORS IX CONSTRUCTION. 6 1 

Violation. — He thought he might have gone. 
Correction. — He thought he might go. 

Note. — In a sentence quoted indirectly and introduced bv a 
past tense, the verbs of the quotation are changed from the present 
to the past tense, from the perfect to the pluperfect, from the future 
to the conditional ; but statements of general propositions or un- 
changeable truths are kept in the present tense. Thus, the sentence, 
I have just come, and will go with him as soon as I dress for the 
evening, when so quoted, reads as follows : He said that he had just 
come, and would go with him as soon as he dressed for the evening; 
but we say. The lecturer said that water is composed of oxygen and 
hydrogen, not The lecturer said that water was composed of oxygen 
and hydrogen. 

EXAMPLES FOR CORRECTION. 

i. He fully expected to have been there. 

2. He meant to have written. 

3. They finally decided to have done the opposite. 

4. You assumed that the parties might have been present. 

5. I was planning that I might have avoided meeting them. 

6. He made inquiries to find how many miles it was from 
New York to Boston. 

7. I was certain that I could have gone just as well alone. 

8. He believed that there was rest for the weary. 

9. I hoped to have had this finished by New Year's. 

X. The to which precedes the infinitive should not be 
separated from its verb. 

Note. — Some authorities maintain that the observance of this 
rule is not essential to correct writing. 

This rule is violated by placing adverbs or phrases 
between the infinitive and its sign to. 

Violation. — To more fully explain. 

Correction. — To explain more fully, or more fully to explain. 



62 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 



EXAMPLES FOR CORRECTION. 

i. He came with the intention to entirely ignore the pro- 
posals. 

2. We all expected them to presently appear. 

3. Be sure to promptly obey the forthcoming instructions. 

4. How can a man bring himself to heartlessly ignore all 
appeals ? 

5. She intended to completely mystify them by her sudden 
arrival. 

6. I am at a loss to amicably settle this difficulty. 

7. No one can expect to exactly suit every one. 

8. No one was able to correctly state the case. 

XL Use the proper verbal form and the proper aux- 
iliary. 

This rule is violated — 

(a) By using the past participle for the preterit or 
the preterit for the past participle. 

Violation. — They drank and sung all night. 
Correction. — They drank and sang all night. 

Violation. — Have you broke your wheel ? 
Correction. — Have you broken your wheel ? 

(J?) By using can for may, shall for will, would for 
should, etc. (see p. 45). 

Violation. — Can I speak to Jones ? 
Correction. — May I speak to Jones ? 

(c) By using an auxiliary without supplying the 
proper verbal form. 

Violation. — He always has, and always will object. 
Correction. — He always has objected, and always will object. 



CORRECTION OF ERRORS IN CONSTRUCTION. 63 



EXAMPLES FOR CORRECTION. 

i. They did not see this; but if they had, it would have 
saved them. 

2. Three men were froze to death. 

3. I know I will never see her again. 

4. I have drove all day long. 

5. No accident has happened yet; but if one ever should, 
no one would be saved. 

6. I will probably go to the opera to-morrow. 

7. If it would rain to-morrow, I would have to stay 
home. 

8. I determined that I would, and I had another trial. 

9. I thought it only fair that she would be allowed to come 
with me. 

10. I always expected to, and finally succeeded in raising 
the required amount. 

XII. Distinguish between the uses of the comparative 
and the superlative degrees. 

This rule is violated — 

(a) By using the superlative degree in comparing two 
objects. 

Violation. — The youngest of the two. 
Correction. — The younger (of the two) . 

(b) By using the comparative without an excluding 
term in comparing an individual with the rest of its 
class. 

Violation. — He was more distinguished than all generals of his 
time. 

Correction. — He was more distinguished than all other gen- 
erals of his time ; or, He was the most distinguished general of 
his time. 



64 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

Most adjectives of two syllables, and all adjectives of 
more than two, are compared by use of the adverbs 
more and most, not by terminations. 

Ex. Watchful, more watchful, most watchful. 

Contented, more contented, most contented. 

Some adjectives do not admit of any comparison. 
Errors are often made by using the comparative and 
superlative degrees of such adjectives. 

Violation. — The work is more complete than I expected to find it. 
Correction. — The work is more nearly complete than I expected 
to find it. 

EXAMPLES FOR CORRECTION. 

i. Which is farthest East, New York or Philadelphia ? 

2. The mother's death fell harder on him than on any 
member of the family. 

3. There was no doubt about his being the better of the 
three. 

4. The oldest of the two men was dressed in homespun, 
and had the appearance of a tradesman. 

5. The " Press " is the best of any paper published in the 
city. 

6. She had read more books than any girl in the class. 

7. He is the most perfect actor that I have ever seen. 

8. They are the conceitedest family I know of. 

9. There are four in the firm, and he is much the younger 
member. 

10. The desire for a new government is more universal than 
ever before. 

XIII. Adjectives agree zvith their nouns in number. 

Note. — No English adjectives show distinction of gender or 
case ; and only two, viz., this and that, show distinction of number. 



CORRECTION OF ERRORS IN CONSTRUCTION. 65 

This rule is violated by using the plural of this and 
that with a singular noun. 

Violation. — I don't care for those sort of apple. 
Correction. — I don't care for that sort of apple. 

EXAMPLES FOR CORRECTION. 

i. Which do you prefer, these or those kind of hats? 

2. He objected to these type of men. 

3. Please don't touch those pile of clothes till I get my list 
finished. 

4. Don't you dislike these style of coats? 

5. I selected several from those assortment of cloaks. 

XIV. Adjectives qualify nouns ; adverbs qualify verbs y 
adjectives, and other adverbs. 

Note. — It requires some practice to determine whether the 
noun or verb is modified after verbs expressing being or state. If 
the noun is qualified, an adjective should be used ; if the verb, an 
adverb. We say the potatoes boil soft, if we mean the state of the 
potatoes after boiling is soft ; but we say the potatoes boil softly, if 
we mean the process of boiling goes on softly. 

This rule is violated by using an adverb when the 
noun is qualified, or an adjective when the verb is quali- 
fied. 

Violation. — She looks prettily in that dress ; she sings sweet. 
Correction, — She looks pretty in that dress ; she sings sweetly. 

EXAMPLES FOR CORRECTION. 

i. He appeared very handsomely in his costume. 

2. He recited perfect to-day. 

3. They gave the decision fair enough. 

4. It is buried deeply. 
sch. eng. — 5 



66 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

5 . This tastes very strongly of pepper. 

6. The gas has escaped, and the air smells very badly. 

7. How sweetly and gently the pony looks. 

8. Deal gentle with them. 

9. Carry this very steady. 

10. Fix the curtain pole a little more firmly, please. 

XV. The article an is used before words beginning 
ivith a vowel sound, arid before words beginning with a 
pronounced h and having an accent on the second syllable. 
The article a is used before all other words. 

Ex. An apple, an honor, an orange, an hypothesis, an hydrangea ; 
but, a house, a horse, a history, a hypocrite. 

This rule is violated — 

(a) By using an before words beginning with h, but 
with no accent on the second syllable. 

Violation. — An halter, an horrid man, an history, an horoscope. 
Correction. — A halter, a horrid man, a history, a horoscope. 

Note. — Usage varies as to words of two syllables beginning 
with h and having an accent on the second syllable. 

Ex. A hotel or an hotel. 

(b) By using an before words beginning with a vowel 
having the sound of y or w. 

Violation. — An union, an usage, such an one. 
Correction. — A union, a usage, such a one. 

Note. — The article should be repeated before each of several 
expressions in the same construction, where they denote separate 
persons or things. 

Ex. There go a lawyer and a doctor ; 
not, There go a lawyer and doctor. 



CORRECTION OF ERRORS IN CONSTRUCTION. 67 

EXAMPLES FOR CORRECTION. 

i. He was an hypocritical man. 

2. The check read for an hundred dollars. 

3. The travelers at length came to an hostelry. 

4. Found in a omnibus, a gold-headed cane. 

5. First of all, one must have a hypothesis. 

6. Let us consider an hypothetical case. 

7. An hierarchy is a government by the priesthood of any 
religion. 

8. He had an humorous way of looking at every question. 

9. I was reading an European history yesterday. 

10. He held him with a iron grasp. 

11. The society elected three officers, — a president, a 
secretary, and treasurer. 

XVI. Either, 1 neither, both, former, latter, etc., are 
itsed in speaking of only two ; any, none, one, all, first, 
last, etc., in speaking of more than two. 

This rule is violated by using these words without 
regard to the dual and plural distinction. 

Violation. — Neither of the three will do. 
Correction, — None of the three will do. 

EXAMPLES FOR CORRECTION. 

i . Of these four generals, neither showed any fitness" for the 
place. 

2. James, Harry, and John were there; the latter made 
better use of his time than any of the others. 

3. Three propositions were made, either of which would 
have suited me. 

1 Some authorities maintain that either may be used correctly in speak- 
ing of more than two. 



68 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

4. They both saw the accident, but none of them made any 
attempt to give help. 

5. There are only two possible ways of doing this : the first 
I have explained already ; the last I shall take up now. 

XVII. Two negatives make an affirmative. 

This rule is violated by using a negative with such 
words as only, hardly, but, etc. 

Violation. — They haven't only one more. 
Correction. — They have only one more. 

EXAMPLES FOR CORRECTION. 

i. Harrison won't have but one term. 

2. The immigrants couldn't find scarcely anything to eat. 

3. Nobody could hardly imagine the situation. 

4. I can't scarcely make out with this. 

5. They couldn't barely squeeze through the opening. 

XVIII. Use a preposition which will properly express 
the relation of the noun introduced. 

Note. — English being an uninflected language, the relation of 
nouns is not indicated by case endings, but by prepositions. Care 
must therefore be taken to use a preposition that expresses the 
relation intended. 

This rule is violated by using a preposition which 
does not express the proper relation. 

Violation. — He went in the shop. 
Correction. — He went into the shop. 

EXAMPLES FOR CORRECTION.* 

i. His independence on his family. 
2. They saw him go over at the stable. 

1 These examples might have been given under Propriety. 



CORRECTION OF ERRORS IN CONSTRUCTION. 69 

3. I am going on the opposite side of the street. 

4. Often of a Sunday afternoon he would spend hours 
remonstrating with her. 

5. I saw two horses run in the stable. 

6. Her youngest son enlisted for the army. 

7. Compare the character of Washington to that of 
Napoleon. 

8. Don't take her in your confidence if you do not wish to 
find trouble. 

9. Some people have a faculty for making trouble to others. 
10. You cannot help being impatient at them. 

XIX. Conjunctions or relatives connect sentences. 

This rule is violated — 

(a) By using prepositions for connectives. 

Violation. — You must not go without you get permission. 
Correction. — You must not go unless you get permission. 

Note. — The adverb like must be followed by a preposition, 
expressed or understood, and should never be used as a conjunction. 

Violation. — He went to war like David went. 
Correction. — He went to war like [unto] David, or, went to war 
as David went. 

{b) By using both conjunction and relative. 

Violation. — This was his favorite spot, and which he chose for 
his grave. 

Correction. — This was his favorite spot, which he chose for his 
grave ; or, This was his favorite spot, and the one which he chose 
for his grave. 

EXAMPLES FOR CORRECTION. 

i. The enemy found the fight would be useless except the 
guard should be bribed. 

2. The Indians believe in a great Spirit, and which they 
worship with many curious ceremonies. 



70 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

3. I would do anything sooner to going through with this 
discussion. 

4. He looked like he was a very sick man. 

5. He acted like he couldn't bear to have them near him. 

XX. Every sentence should be grammatically com- 
plete ; and every word should be a grammatical element 
in the sentence. 

This rule is violated — 

(a) By using two words for the subject of a sentence. 

Violation. — My mother, when she came to investigate the 
matter, she found it as was expected. 

Correction. — My mother, when she came to investigate the 
matter, found it as was expected. 

{b) By using two thats to introduce a clause. 

Violation. — He said that when all the points were made that the 
opposition would be glad to settle. 

Correction. — He said that when all the points were made, the 
opposition would be glad to settle. 

(c) By using a word that has no construction in the 
sentence. 

Violation. — The animosity which she exhibited in early life, she 
lost it all in later years. 

Correction. — All the animosity which she exhibited in early life, 
she lost in later years. 

(d) By omitting an essential part of the sentence. 

Violation. — He knows better than withhold information. 
Correction. — He knows better than to withhold information. 

EXAMPLES FOR CORRECTION. 

i. He was as violent, if not more violent, than his opponent. 
2. This fellow, after the speaking began, he kept interrupt- 
ing the orators, 



CORRECTION OF ERRORS IN CONSTRUCTION. 



71 



3. The little grisettes, of whom are the shop-girls, dress- 
makers, etc., are some of them extremely pretty. 

4. He coughed between every other word he spoke. 

5. They felt that when everything was arranged and the 
old people comfortably settled, that they could be more 
independent. 

6. Look up in the dictionary every word the spelling of 
which you are not certain. 

7. She was as good, if not better, than any seamstress in 
the class. 

8. They have for a long while, and they still will continue, 
to deal with us. 

9. Dr. M he was sure of being on the right course. 

10. I never like athletic games ; you have to wait so long 

between each event. 



SUMMARY OF TWENTY RULES FOR CORRECTING ERRORS 
IN THE USE OF WORDS. 



Nouns 

and 

Pronouns. 



1. 

2. 
3- 

4- 



6. 



7- 



Some domesticated foreign words retain their 
original plurals. 

The subject of a finite verb is in the nominative. 

The predicate after the verb to be, or other verb 
expressing existence, is in the same case as 
the subject. 

The object of a verb or preposition is in the ob- 
jective case. 

All nouns in the singular, and nouns in'the plural 
not ending in s, form the possessive by adding 
apostrophe and s. Plural nouns ending in s add 
the apostrophe alone. Definite pronouns do 
not take the apostrophe in the possessive case. 

A noun or pronoun limiting another noun is put 
in the possessive case, unless a preposition is 
used. 

Pronouns agree with their antecedents in number 
and person. 



J2 



SCHOOL ENGLISH. 



Verbs. 



Adjectives 

and 
Adverbs. 



Preposi- 
tions. 

Conjunc- 
tions. 

General. 



8. Verbs agree with their subjects in number and 

person. 

9. In subordinate clauses the tense of the verb is 

relative to the tense of the principal verb. 

10. The to which precedes the infinitive should not 

be separated from its verb. 

11. Use the proper verbal form and the proper 

auxiliary. 

12. Distinguish between the uses of the comparative 

and the superlative degrees. 

13. Adjectives agree with their nouns in number. 

14. Adjectives qualify nouns ; adverbs qualify verbs, 

adjectives, and other adverbs. 

15. The article an is used before words beginning 

with a vowel sound, and before words begin- 
ning with a pronounced h and having an accent 
on the second syllable. The article a is used 
before all other words. 

16. Either, neither, both, for?ner, latter, etc., are used 

in speaking of only two ; any, none, one, all, 
first, last, etc., in speaking of more than two. 

17. Two negatives make an affirmative. 

f 18. Use a preposition which will properly express 
[ the relation of the noun introduced. 

J 19. Conjunctions or relatives connect sentences. 

120. Every sentence should be grammatically com- 
plete ; and every word should be a grammati- 
cal element in the sentence. 



MISCELLANEOUS EXAMPLES FOR CORRECTION. 

i. Among the passengers, not one will forget their narrow 
escape. 

2. He rejoiced at the thought of being taken into partner- 
ship of his father's business. 

3. The engineer, finding he was behind time, and having 
an open, straight track ahead, he pulled the throttle out to the 
last notch. 



CORRECTION OF ERRORS IN CONSTRUCTION. 73 

4. The train was composed entirely of parlor cars, and 
were for the most part filled with many passengers. 

5. It was a wild and stormy night, one of those kind we 
often have in December. 

6. If you would begin your letters sooner, you would 
accomplish the task, if it is one, in time. 

7. Write down the events of each day ; and so a long 
letter will grow beneath your pen, and which will not tax you 
to write. 

8. She died to-day, only twenty-three years old. Youth 
and health are no security ; it is an event which happens to all. 

9. He put on the air brakes, but it does no good. 

10. Every one is dressed in their best. 

11. The St. Louis Express had to make good time, which, 
of course, was known to the engineer. 

12. Besides, lynching was the only thing that could have 
been done. 

13. There will be no chance of anybody being disturbed. 

14. They rode forward, each with a self-confident smile 
lingering about their faces. 

15. The knights had long since began to assemble. 

16. Lord Mohun immediately became angry and whipped 
his horses, which caused a runaway. 

1 7. He was a very bold fellow and reckless at cards, which 
all gentlemen of the times were. 

18. He took them in the smoking car. 

19. Tennyson's Idylls of the King were dedicated to Prince 
Albert of England, which is thought to have been very 
appropriate. 

20. Last year we were defeated in our first game, which 
seemed to strengthen the team. 

21. Despite his absence, however, the Commission's actions 
was eminently conservative. 

22. He is more entirely in sympathy with the aims of the 
society than is any of its members. 



74 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

23. Of the fourteen passengers, — all men, — none was killed, 
but eight were severely injured. A severe storm prevailed, and 
the injured suffered greatly. 

24. After this, five of the knights which were chosen ad- 
vanced, and with reversed lances touched the shield of their 
champion. 

25. He went up and struck Gilbert's shield, which started 
the combat at once. 

26. In the following examples the sound of sentences are 
marred by repetitions. 

27. Different provinces furnished men peculiarly fitted to 
different occupations. 

28. Two awful piles of wreck and ruin are in view, mingled 
with the broken bones and mangled bodies of the passengers. 
It catches fire, and the flames envelop all. 



CHAPTER IV. 
CLEARNESS. FORCE, AND HARMONY. 

Good Style. — Though the pupil has now been warned 
against the errors in diction and grammar which inex- 
perienced writers are apt to commit, and though he may 
thoroughly understand what these errors are and how 
to avoid them, he is not necessarily an accomplished 
and agreeable writer. If he is not, the main cause of 
this failure may be that he has no interesting and 
entertaining thoughts to communicate to his readers ; 
but an additional cause will be found in his inability to 
express his thoughts in a pleasing manner. 

A boy may have witnessed an exceedingly amusing 
occurrence ; and yet the letter in which he gives the 
account to his friends may be neither entertaining nor 
interesting. The failure to entertain by the written 
account cannot be due to the lack of subject matter, but 
to the fact that his ideas cannot be apprehended without 
great effort on the part of the reader. The reader has 
been tired by the use of unnecessary words, or words 
have been left out without which the writer's ideas could 
not be well understood. The sentences are confused, 
and so arranged that they do not bring out the meaning 
clearly and forcibly ; and the important thoughts have 
no emphasis. Another reason for the lack of interest 
will probably be found in the absence of all illustration, 
and in a consequent literalness of expression, so that 

75 



y6 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

nothing is suggested to the reader beyond the facts 
related. 

An analysis of such a letter might fail to reveal any 
mistake in the use of words or any solecism ; the sub- 
ject is known to be interesting, and yet the letter fails 
to please. Evidently, there must be some further im- 
provement in the style of the writer. Accordingly, the 
following pages are devoted to those rules of rhetoric 
the observance of which will enable one to express his 
thoughts clearly, forcibly, and in sentences whose sound 
is pleasing to the listener ; and an attempt will be made 
to exhibit to him the power which lies in the use of 
figurative language, by which a thought may be sug- 
gested in a clearer and more forcible way than it can 
be stated literally. 

Benefit from Instruction in Rhetoric. 1 — It is extremely 
likely that some students will make these improvements 
by unconsciously imitating the style of the authors 
whose books they read, and that others will never 
remedy all their faults under any method of instruc- 
tion. Nevertheless it is possible to aid the weakest and 
to hasten the progress of the strongest, by familiarizing 
them with the principles of good style, giving them 
a clear idea of what constitutes beauty, and what is a 
blemish. By applying the rules given in the following 
pages, students may detect the blemishes in their writing, 
and, by making a revision of what they have first written, 
give a more creditable and agreeable account. 

CLEARNESS. 

That no effort may be wasted by tJie reader in attempt- 
ing to discover the meaning of words and sentences, or in 

1 See Herbert Spencer's " Philosophy of Style," 



CLEARNESS, FORCE, AND HARMONY. JJ 

trying to decide which of two or more possible meanings 
is the one intended, a writer sliould select and arrange his 
zvords y not only so that they may be understood, but, if 
possible, so that they cannot be misunderstood. 

The following are special rules designed to aid in 
securing this standard of clearness. 

I. Modifying words, phrases, and clauses should, if 
possible, be placed so that there can be no mistake as to 
what they modify. 

This rule is violated — 

id) By placing modifiers too far from the words which 
they modify. 

Violation. — He made amends when he discovered his error, like 
a man. 

Correction. — He made amends like a man, when he discovered 
his error; or, Like a man, he made amends when he discovered 
his error. 

Violation. — I only have gratitude for you. 

Correction. — I have only gratitude for you ; or, I have gratitude 
for you only. 

Only is more frequently misplaced than any other 
adverb. 

Violation. — I went out in the storm and lost my hat when she 
called. 

Correction. — I went out in the storm when she called, and lost 
my hat ; or, When she called, I went out in the storm and lost 
my hat. 

Violation. — The police officer entered as the criminal sat down, 
by the open window. 

Correction. — The police officer entered by the open window, as 
the criminal sat down ; or, As the criminal sat down by the open 
window, the police officer entered. 



78 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

Note. — Special care is necessary to avoid ambiguity in the use 
of participial constructions. 

Violation. — Being in the depths of despair, the sea became the 
refuge that he had long been seeking. 

Correction. — The sea became the refuge that he, being in the 
depths of despair, had long been seeking. 

(b) By placing a modifier so that it may be taken 
with the part of the sentence preceding or following it. 

Violation. — Telephone the doctor, if he comes home before 
seven, to call this evening. 

Correction. — Telephone the doctor to call this evening if he 
comes home before seven ; or, If he comes home before seven, 
telephone the doctor to call this evening. 

Punctuation not Sufficient. — Separating a modifying 
phrase by a comma often indicates that it should not 
be taken with the part of the sentence immediately 
preceding; and though the clearness of a faulty sen- 
tence may be improved in this way, it is always better 
to put the phrase in its proper position, if possible. 

Ex. It is reported that Mr. Brown is at the point of death at his 
fathers summer resort from typhoid fever. 

Though the clearness of this sentence might be im- 
proved by placing a comma before the phrase from 
typhoid fever, the proper correction is as follows : — 

It is reported that Mr. Brown is at the point of death from typhoid 
fever at his father's summer resort. 

II. Every pronoun should be so placed that its antece- 
dent cannot be mistaken. 

This rule is probably more frequently violated than 
any other rule of rhetoric. 



CLEARNESS, FORCE, AND HARMONY. 79 

This rule is violated by allowing between the pronoun 
and its antecedent another noun to which the pronoun 
may refer. 

Violation. — He led a horse from the stable which was five 
years old. 

Correction. — He led from the stable a horse which was five 
years old. 

Violation. — Collins got me a free passage from the captain of a 
sloop, on the ground that I was a friend of his. 

Correction. — Collins, on the ground that I was a friend of his, 
got me a free passage from the captain of a sloop. 

Ambiguity may often be avoided by repeating the 
noun instead of using a pronoun. 

Violation. — When I told Jones that I was going to leave Brown, 
he became very angry. 

Correction. — When I told Jones that I was going to leave Brown, 
Jones became very angry. 

Violation. — Smith has separated from his partner ; if you ask 
him, he may employ you. 

Correction. — Smith has separated from his partner; if you ask 
Smith, he may employ you. 

ADDITIONAL EXAMPLES. 

On entering the hall, he saw some one holding a lamp in a 
white gown beckoning to him. 

Albany is a town containing one thousand houses and ten 
thousand inhabitants, all standing with their gable ends to the 
street. 

III. The words selected should be adequate to express 
the meaning intended. 

This rule is violated — 

(a) By the omission of words necessary to complete 
the sense. 



80 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

Violation. — I cannot remember one of their statements. 
Correction. — I cannot remember even one of their statements. 
Violation. — He is very near an agnostic thinker. 
Correction. — He is very near to becoming an agnostic thinker. 

(b) By the use of general in place of specific terms. 

Violation. — It is better to take this post by strategy than by 
force. 

Correction. — It is wiser [or more prudent] to take this post by 
strategy than by force. 

(c) By the use of a word capable of two meanings. 

Violation. — He draws a certain amount each year. 
Correction. — He draws a fixed amount each year; or, He draws 
an unfailing amount each year. 

Violation. — That is a dear little trinket. 

Correction. — That is an expensive little trinket; or, That is a 
pretty little trinket. 

IV. In every sentence, unity of thought should be pre- 
served; i.e., there should be but one mam thought, and the 
construction should make this evident. 

Unity is often given as one of the four essentials of 
good style ; but it may properly be classed under the 
head of clearness, as the only objection to presenting 
several ideas at once is the possibility of confusion, or 
loss of appreciation of the relation between the several 
dependent and independent members of a sentence. 
This loss is evidently one of clearness. 

This rule is violated — 

(a) By connecting independent sentences which have 
no real connection in thought. 

Violation. — Lawrenceville is a small town in New Jersey, half- 
way between Trenton and Princeton ; and the school grounds are 
on the east side of the road which runs through the village. 



CLEARNESS, FORCE, AND HARMONY. 8 1 

Correction. — Lawrenceville is a small town in New Jersey, half- 
way between Trenton and Princeton. The school grounds are on 
the east side of the road which runs through the village. 

(J?) By making an unnecessary change of subject. 

Violation. — After the convicts reached the station, the officers 
handcuffed them, and the train officials took them into the smoking 
car, which was already crowded with tourists who were returning 
from the fair. 

Correction. — After the convicts reached the station, they were 
handcuffed by the officers, and taken by the train officials into the 
smoking car, already crowded with tourists returning from the 
fair. 

(c) By long parenthetical clauses, or by a number 
of dependent clauses or phrases between subject and 
predicate. 

Violation. — Police matrons, for whose employment at the police 
stations of the city where women and girls were detained this 
society joined its efforts with those of others alike interested, are 
now on duty, the needed legislation having been secured and carried 
into effect. 

Correction. — This society joined its efforts with those of others 
alike interested, for the employment of police matrons at the police 
stations of this city where women and girls were detained. The 
needed legislation having been secured and carried into effect, the 
matrons are now on duty. 



ADDITIONAL EXAMPLE. 

The girl heard the shot distinctly, she declares, while the 
others, who were twenty feet nearer the spot where the body 
was found, and who, from the peculiar acoustic properties of 
the flat, aided by those of the court, which would concentrate 
the sound waves and naturally force them through the window 
into the two parlors, connected by a wide archway, should 
have heard the report clearly, have sworn that they did not. 

SCH. ENG. — 6 



§2 School English. 

V. Very often a faulty sentence cannot be corrected by 
any of the foregoing rules, but must be rewritten before 
it will convey the writer s intended meaning. 

The newspaper reporter who wrote the following 
item, — 

" The office of the Italian journal ' Roma ' was wrecked and an 
Italian restaurant was demolished, as well as other damage done to 
the property of Italian residents," — 

did not mean to say that other damage was demolished ; 
and it will be difficult to correct the sentence without 
rewriting it somewhat as follows : — 

"The office of the Italian journal 'Roma' was wrecked; an 
Italian restaurant was demolished ; and other damage was done 
to the property of Italian residents." 

It is difficult to say what was in the mind of the cor- 
respondent who wrote the following : — 

"It is the first instance of the kind the United States has ever had 
to deal with, when the people of another country voluntarily asked 
for annexation, the protest of foreign powers. Consequently the 
United States must decide whether it will assume the risk of an- 
nexation and its possible results. That's the whole thing in a 
nutshell. . . . Both propositions have earnest advocates, who, 
fortunately for the object in view, concede that the other has many 
merits. The conviction that either a protectorate must be estab- 
lished or annexation provided for grows steadily, as the alternative 
in case both measures are rejected is more clearly appreciated." 

MISCELLANEOUS EXAMPLES OF VIOLATION OF CLEARNESS. 

Explain how clearness is lost in each sentence, and correct 
the fault : — 

i. He believed that if they could get the bill up, they could 
hold the House in session until it should be finally disposed <?f. 

2. Vestibule cars were behind the noble engine filled with 
passengers hastening homeward. 



CLEARNESS, FORCE, AND HARMONY. 83 

3. They pass the lights made dim by the storm on the track 
at Yonkers. 

4. Just as the bookmakers were dividing up the profits, the 
police rushed in and said they were all under arrest. 

5. He left the station with a long train full of travelers 
going to spend Christmas with their friends and relatives, just- 
half an hour behind the Niagara Express. 

6. The engineer sat waiting for the signal to start from the 
conductor. 

7. The engineer all at once sees that the "Gibraltar" is 
standing there on his track. Quickly reversing at full speed, 
the wheels begin to rotate backward, but to no purpose. 

8. The preceding train also carries passengers en route for 
their homes ; viz., the Niagara Express. 

9. The signal is given for him to pull out. Pushing for- 
ward the lever, the great engine starts. 

10. And he spake unto his sons, saying, Saddle me the ass ; 
and they saddled him. 

1 1 . There are guards to protect the tibia and the fibula of 
the leg, usually made of metal. 

12. But, unfortunately, we can as yet only infer from this 
experiment that such a constitution is possible. We cannot 
say whether it will be good or bad. 

13. He spent most of his time looking from the clubhouse 
windows of which he was a member. 

14. Our Canadian neighbors have been for some time past 
encroaching on the rights of the United States, by their un- 
doubtedly unlawful killing of the seals. 

15. He had difficulty in breathing, which yielded to treat- 
ment, at the expense of his strength. 

16. Wait till I get a big boy. 

1 7. First, the proverbial corruption of the officials was not 
above turning a considerable part of the money destined to 
the purchase of food and corn for sowing into their own 
pockets. 



84 SCHOOL ENGLISH, 

1 8. In response to such an intimation, several opponents of 
the bill to-day remarked with considerable sarcasm that they 
should not heed it, unless it assumed a more definite and spe- 
cific form. 

19. It is understood that the sight of the guns of the 
" Atlanta " has not brought the President of Haiti and his 
Minister of Justice to understand the seriousness with which 
the Administration looks upon the imprisonment of one of its 
citizens contrary to law. 

20. A well-known firm, after joining the society, caused to 
be drawn from its books, and sent to us for revision, a list of 
twenty societies to which it had for many years contributed. 
Upon examination we reported six as unworthy of confidence 
or support. It thus cut off a considerable annual waste. 

21. There has been much inquiry for our publications from 
other cities and towns for use in forming kindred societies ; 
one request coming from the far-off university town of Kharkof, 
Russia, while several have come from France. 

22. Mrs. Harris had everything she could wish that money 
could buy, was a great favorite in Cleveland society, and appar- 
ently lived happily with her husband. 

23. Two letters were received from the Corporation Counr 
sel and President Barker, of the Tax Board, complaining of the 
inadequacy of their quarters and the filthy condition of the 
building. 

24. The whole list contained the names of more than one 
hundred deputies who had been beneficiaries of the Panama 
fund. The sums paid to these men varied between 1,000 and 
2,000 francs and 300,000 francs each. 

25. The Secretary of the Navy arrived in the city yester- 
day, and is at the Gilsey House, and personal business is the 
reason for his presence here, and he says he does not think 
he will have time during this visit to go to the Navy Yard. 

26. The police could, if they would, shut up every gambling 
place in the city. They know where they are. 



CLEARNESS, FORCE, AND HARMONY. 85 

27. The operation of this bill upon the Brooklyn indictments 
— when enacted, as it seems certain to be — will be scrutinized 
closely. 

28. The flour bought by the municipal council of St. Peters- 
burg for the poor was found to be mixed up with indigestible 
substances. 

29. It has come to be a pretty well defined conviction that 
there is but one proper and just course for the United States to 
pursue, and that is to accede to the desires of the enlightened 
and interested people of the islands in one form or another. 

30. He mastered the art of engraving with the intention of 
publishing a book never to be completed on the machinery 
employed in the Gota Canal Works. 

31. The Union League Club of New York, as will be the 
case with the great Union of States, to aid in the preservation 
of which it was brought into existence in 1863, has passed 
under new executive control. 

32. Whenever the Democrats can find enough members to 
vote for the repeal of the Silver Purchase Law, who, with 
Republican aid, can pass the bill, that is the thing for Repub- 
licans to do. 

33. Paris is the place of all others to find big wax dolls, with 
flaxen hair and pink cheeks, that squeak when you squeeze 
them and shut their eyes when you lay them down. But I 
doubt very much whether the true healthy child really cares 
for these things. 

34. They are all men representative of the best class in 
Hawaii, and on this errand will voice the desires of the intelli- 
gent and enterprising portion of Hawaiian population. That 
portion is made up of the foreigners who have gone to that 
country and those who were born there of American and Euro- 
pean parents. 

35. He was born of an humble family in Genoa in 1784. 
At a very early age he showed great musical talent, and his 
father, who himself played the violin a little, resolved to 



86 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

develop it to the utmost. Accordingly the instrument was 
placed in his hands almost as soon as he could talk, and with 
such instruction as his father could give him he was made to 
practice nearly the whole time, stopping only to eat and to 
sleep. 

36. From other sources it was learned that it is the present 
intention of the Commissioner to visit the several settlements 
in the other islands on the " Rush." The " Rush " is expected 
to return after a week's stay here, as her services will be no 
longer required. 

37. The most important business was the report of the 
Finance Committee, which showed that the $250,000 required 
by the act of the Legislature to be raised by subscription before 
the 250 acres of land in Bronx Park could be secured and the 
$500,000 to be given by the city could be obtained, was prac- 
tically in hand. 

38. This sudden change of mind on the part of the Presi- 
dent was wholly unexpected, and is not to be attributed to any 
outside influence brought to bear upon him. On the contrary, 
the men who came to Washington yesterday to talk over once 
more the situation with the authorities, left the Secretary de- 
cidedly disappointed. 

39. The chimpanzee is supposed to stand next to man. 
This is owing principally to his brain and the formation of his 
thumb. It has a man's appetite, when cultivated. It learns to 
sit at table, as a man has to do, and partakes of everything, 
being particularly fond of sweets. It has even been known to 
become addicted to strong drink ! — another manly art. 

EXTRACT TO ILLUSTRATE CLEARNESS. 

In each of the examples on the preceding pages the 
writer's meaning is not clearly expressed. The follow- 
ing extract from an author remarkable for the lucidity 
of his style, is given in order that the student may 



CLEARNESS, FORCE, AND HARMONY 87 

contrast the sentences in the preceding passages with 
those to follow, and thus appreciate the value of clear- 
ness of expression. 

[FROM MACAULAY'S " HISTORY OF ENGLAND."] 

And now the time for the great hazard drew near. The 
night was not ill suited for such an enterprise. The moon was 
indeed at the full, and the northern streamers were shining 
brilliantly. But the marsh fog lay so thick on Sedgemoor that 
no object could be discerned there at the distance of fifty 
paces. 

The clock struck eleven, and the Duke with his bodyguard 
rode out of the Castle. He was not in the frame of mind 
which befits one who is about to strike a decisive blow. The 
very children who pressed to see him pass, observed and long 
remembered that his look was sad and full of evil augury. 
His army marched by a circuitous path, near six miles in 
length, towards the royal encampment on Sedgemoor. Part 
of the route is to this day called War Lane. The foot were 
led by Monmouth himself. The horse were confided to Grey, 
in spite of the remonstrances of some who remembered the 
mishap at Bridport. Orders were given that strict silence 
should be preserved, that no drum should be beaten, and no 
shot fired. The word by which the insurgents were to recog- 
nize one another in the darkness was Soho. It had doubtless 
been selected in allusion to Soho Fields in London, where 
their leader's palace stood. 

At about one in the morning of Monday the sixth of July, 
the rebels were on the open moor. But between them and the 
enemy lay three broad rhines filled with water and soft mud. 
Two of these, called the Black Ditch and the Langmoor 
Rhine, Monmouth knew that he must pass. But, strange to 
say, the existence of a trench, called the Bussex Rhine, which 
immediately covered the royal encampment, had not been 
mentioned to him by any of his scouts. 



88 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

The wains which carried the ammunition remained at the 
entrance of the moor. The horse and foot, in a long narrow 
column, passed the Black Ditch by a causeway. There was 
a similar causeway across the Langmoor Rhine ; but the guide, 
in the fog, missed his way. There was some delay and some 
tumult before the error could be rectified. At length the 
passage was effected ; but, in the confusion, a pistol went off. 
Some men of the Horse Guards, who were on watch, heard 
the report, and perceived that a great multitude was advancing 
through the mist. They fired their carbines, and galloped 
off in different directions to give the alarm. Some hastened 
to Weston Zoyland, where the cavalry lay. One trooper 
spurred to the encampment of the infantry, and cried out 
vehemently that the enemy was at hand. The drums of 
Dumbarton's regiment beat to arms ; and the men got fast 
into their ranks. It was time ; for Monmouth was already 
drawing up his army for action. He ordered Grey to lead the 
way with the cavalry, and followed himself at the head of 
the infantry. Grey pushed on till his progress was unex- 
pectedly arrested by the Bussex Rhine. On the opposite side 
of the ditch the King's foot were hastily forming in order of 
battle. 

"For whom are you ?" called out an officer of the Foot 
Guards. " For the King," replied a voice from the ranks of 
the rebel cavalry. "For which King?" was then demanded. 
The answer was a shout of " King Monmouth," mingled with 
the war cry, which forty years before had been inscribed on the 
colors of the parliamentary regiments, " God with us." The 
royal troops instantly fired such a volley of musketry as sent 
the rebel horse flying in all directions. The world agreed to 
ascribe this ignominious rout to Grey's pusillanimity. Yet it 
is by no means clear that Churchill would have succeeded 
better at the head of men who had never before handled arms 
on horseback, and whose horses were unused, not only to stand 
fire, but to obey the rein. 



CLEARNESS, FORCE, AND HARMONY. 89 

A few minutes after the Duke's horse had dispersed them- 
selves over the moor, his infantry came up, running fast, and 
guided through the gloom by the lighted matches of Dumbar- 
ton's regiment. 

Monmouth was startled by finding that a broad and profound 
trench lay between him and the camp which he had hoped to 
surprise. The insurgents halted on the edge of the rhine, and 
fired. Part of the royal infantry on the opposite bank returned 
the fire. During three quarters of an hour the roar of the 
musketry was incessant. The Somersetshire peasants behaved 
themselves as if they had been veteran soldiers, save only that 
they leveled their pieces too high. 

But now the other divisions of the royal army were in 
motion. The Life Guards and Blues came pricking fast from 
Weston Zoyland, and scattered in an instant some of Grey's 
horse, who had attempted to rally. The fugitives spread a 
panic among their comrades in the rear, who had charge of 
the ammunition. The wagoners drove off at full speed, and 
never stopped till they were many miles from the field of battle. 
Monmouth had hitherto done his part like a stout and able 
warrior. He had been seen on foot, pike in hand, encouraging 
his infantry by voice and by example. But he was too well 
acquainted with military affairs not to know that all was over. 
His men had lost the advantage which surprise and darkness 
had given them. They were deserted by the horse and by the 
ammunition wagons. The King's forces were now united and 
in good order. Feversham had been awakened by the firing, 
had got out of bed, had adjusted his cravat, had looked at 
himself well in the glass, and had come to see what his men 
were doing. Meanwhile, what was of much more importance, 
Churchill had rapidly made an entirely new disposition of the 
royal infantry. The day was about to break. The event of 
a conflict on an open plain, by broad sunlight, could not be 
doubtful. Yet Monmouth should have felt that it was not for 
him to fly, while thousands whom affection for him had hurried 



90 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

to destruction were still fighting manfully in his cause. But 
vain hopes and the intense love of life prevailed. He saw that 
if he tarried, the royal cavalry would soon intercept his retreat. 
He mounted and rode from the field. 

Yet his foot, though deserted, made a gallant stand. The 
Life Guards attacked them on the right, the Blues on the left ; 
but the Somersetshire clowns, with their scythes and the butt 
ends of their muskets, faced the royal horse like old soldiers. 
Oglethorpe made a vigorous attempt to break them, and was 
manfully repulsed. Sarsfield, a brave Irish officer, whose name 
afterwards obtained a melancholy celebrity, charged on the 
other flank. His men were beaten back. He was himself 
struck to the ground, and lay for a time as one dead. 
But the struggle of the hardy rustics could not last. Their 
powder and ball were spent. Cries were heard of " Ammuni- 
tion ! For God's sake, ammunition ! " But no ammunition 
was at hand. And now the King's artillery came up. It had 
been posted half a mile off, on the high road from Weston 
Zoyland to Bridgewater. So defective were then the appoint- 
ments of an English army, that there would have been much 
difficulty in dragging the great guns to the place where the 
battle was raging, had not the Bishop of Winchester offered 
his coach horses and traces for the purpose. This interference 
of a Christian prelate in a matter of blood has, with strange 
inconsistency, been condemned by some Whig writers who can 
see nothing criminal in the conduct of the numerous Puritan 
ministers then in arms against the government. Even when 
the guns had arrived, there was such a want of gunners, that 
a sergeant of Dumbarton's regiment was forced to take on 
himself the management of several pieces. The cannon, how- 
ever, though ill served, brought the engagement to a speedy 
close. The pikes of the rebel battalions began to shake ; the 
ranks broke ; the King's cavalry charged again, and bore down 
everything before them ; the King's infantry came pouring 
across the ditch. Even in that extremity the Mendip miners 



CLEARNESS, FORCE, AND HARMONY. 91 

stood bravely to their arms, and sold their lives dearly. But 
the rout was in a few minutes complete. Three hundred of 
the soldiers had been killed or wounded. Of the rebels, more 
than a thousand lay dead on the moor. 

So ended the last fight, deserving the name of battle, that 
has been fought on English ground. 



FORCE AND HARMONY. 

Object in Studying. — The greater the writer's power 
to force his ideas upon the notice and memory of the 
reader, the easier will it be for the reader to compre- 
hend them ; and the more agreeable and attractive the 
sound of the writer's words, the less energy will be 
required of the reader to keep his mind upon the writ- 
ten matter. Therefore text-books on rhetoric gener- 
ally include some instruction designed to show the 
student how to impress the reader and hold his atten- 
tion, and how to write sentences agreeable in sound, or, 
in other words, how to gain the qualities of force and 
harmony. 

Difficult to Teach. — It is entirely practicable and 
comparatively easy to teach an intelligent scholar how 
to write clearly ; but it is impossible to lay down defi- 
nite rules for writing sentences that will arrest the 
attention, make a lasting impression, or give pleasure by 
the beauty of the sound. Force and harmony are none 
the less important qualities of style, but all the more 
valuable to a writer, because their presence or absence 
marks the distinguishing features of interesting and 
uninteresting writing. The ability to write with power 
and grace is the attribute of genius. Moreover, no 
suggestion can be made, or rule laid down, for force 



9 2 



SCHOOL ENGLISH. 



and harmony, which is not violated by skillful writers 
for the purpose of rhetorical effect, and often to secure 
the very qualities which apparently would be lost. 

For example : Nearly every text-book on rhetoric 
says, under the subject of harmony, that the repeti- 
tion of a word or sound, especially the conjunction and, 
is offensive to the ear. Yet there is nothing offensive 
in the following extract from Tennyson's " Idylls of 
the King," a poem in which frequently occur passages 
where beauty depends largely on a rhythmic repe- 
tition : — 

" I saw the fiery face as of a child 
That smote itself into the bread, and went ; 
And hither am I come ; and never yet 
Hath what thy sister taught me first to see, 
This Holy Thing, failed from my side, nor come 
Cover'd, but moving with me night and day, 
Fainter by day, but always in the night 
Blood-red, and sliding down the blackened marsh 
Blood-red, and on the naked mountain top 
Blood-red, and in the sleeping mere below 
Blood-red. 1 ' 

Nor is there anything offensive in this : — 

" O brother, had you known our mighty hall, 
Which Merlin built for Arthur long ago ! 
For all the sacred mount of Camelot, 
And all the dim rich city, roof by roof, 
Tower after tower, spire beyond spire, 
By grove, and garden-lawn, and rushing brook, 
Climbs to the mighty hall that Merlin built. 
And four great zones of sculpture, set betwixt 
With many a mystic symbol, gird the hall : 
And in the lowest beasts are slaying men, 
And in the second men are slaying beasts, 
And on the third are warriors, perfect men, 



CLEARNESS, FORCE, AND HARMONY. 93 

And on the fourth are men with growing wings, 

And over all one statue in the mold 

Of Arthur, made by Merlin, with a crown, 

And peak'd wings pointed to the Northern Star." 

FORCE. 

Means of gaining Force. — Though genius may seem 
to be independent of rules, there are a few principles 
of style which, if violated without sufficient ground or 
without great skill, are almost certain to weaken the 
effect of one's writings ; and though originality and 
strength of thought may be the most striking element 
in the masterpieces of style, we know that the arrange- 
ment and choice of words have much to do with the 
impression made on the reader. We also know that 
energy is wasted on every unnecessary word ; that, as a 
rule, compact, brief sentences are more striking than 
long, loosely connected sentences ; that one statement 
of a truth is better than two ; that the emphasis of 
words may be influenced by their position in a sen- 
tence ; and that in a series of similar thoughts, the mind 
will grasp the full meaning better if the most important 
thought be placed last. It will be profitable for us, 
then, to illustrate a few of the ways in which the choice 
and arrangement of words may add or detract from the 
force and sound of the sentence. 

I. Unnecessary Words. 

Errors Classified. — The fault of using unnecessary 
words is very common with young writers, and most 
difficult to overcome. The student, therefore, should 
guard himself against this error by carefully reviewing 
what he has written, and striking out every word that 



94 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

does not add to the thought. The various ways in which 
unnecessary words creep into one's writings have been 
classified, and are named as follows : — 

(a) Tautology, or repeating a thought that has just 
been stated. 

Violation. — He answered their question with bitter sarcasm. 

He replied to them with stinging words. 
Correction. — (Either sentence alone tells as much as both.) 
He has attained the summit of his ambition. 
He has all that he desires. (Correction same as 
above.) 

(p) Redundancy, or the addition of words, which, 
though not repeating the thought, add nothing to it. 

Violation. — He indorsed his name on the back of the check. 
Correction. — He indorsed the check. 

Violation. — He returned back again. 
Correction. — He returned. 

Violation. — The last picture was a beautiful one. 
Correction. — The last picture was beautiful. 

Unnecessary words are often made use of in the form 
of qualifying expressions which add nothing to the word 
qualified. 

Violation. — How many lessons we may draw from the unselfish, 
beautiful life of Jesus ! 

No adjective can introduce any loftier thoughts than 
those suggested by the simple mention of the life of 
Jesus, and therefore the presence of any adjective takes 
from the force of the sentence. 

Correction. — How many lessons we may draw from the life of 
Jesus ! 



CLEARNESS, FORCE, AND HARMONY. 95 

Ex. Paul was the hero of that famous book, the Acts of the 
Apostles. 

The close of his life reminded one of a beautiful glorious sun- 
set in a summer day. 

She died like a noble martyr. 

He lived throughout the life of a true and consistent apostle 
of Christ. 

(c) Verbosity or wordiness, a fault consisting in a 
general failure to condense thought into few words, 
especially by lengthening out the unimportant parts of 
the theme, and thus wearying the reader. 

II. Choice of Words. 

Power in Short Words. — The pupil should abandon 
the notion that force is to be gained by the use of big 
words. No one who has read much of English litera- 
ture, or who has read little observingly, can fail to 
appreciate that short words often contain the greatest 
power. Yet it is strange how apt young writers are to 
drop into the use of long words ; and when once the 
vocabulary is formed, it is very hard to be changed. 
We fall insensibly into the use of certain words and 
phrases ; and they become part and parcel of our 
modes of thought and of our style. Long words with 
their full volume of sound express some ideas better 
than short words will express them ; but the student is 
urged to use short words as far as possible without 
impairing the clearness of his writing. 

What has just been said refers to all short words, 
whether derived from the Latin, French, or Saxon. It 
is, however, from the last-mentioned source that the 
English that we speak draws its best life and power. 

Illustrations from the Bible. — How many of our most 



g6 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

familiar words, expressive of all that is best and dearest, 
are Saxon monosyllables ! The first and great com- 
mandment speaks in these words : — 

" Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and 
with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy 
strength." 

Our English version of the Bible abounds in passages 
full of the pith and marrow of the Anglo-Saxon tongue ; 
some of them have a grace which is beyond the reach 
of any later art. Take as an instance the parable by 
which Nathan showed to David as in a glass the image 
of his fatal crime (2 Sam. xii. 1-4). If you will count 
the words in this parable, you will find it contains, in all, 
a hundred and twenty-eight words, of which a hundred 
and thirteen are words of one syllable. 

Wicklif, in his translation of the Bible, puts in words 
of one syllable, or their compounds, our Lord's saying 
to the Seventy : — 

" There is much ripe corn, but few workmen. Pray ye there- 
fore the Lord of the ripe corn that he send workmen into his 
ripe corn." 

Further Illustrations. — Dr. Gregory says in his 
"Memoir of Robert Hall:" — 

" In one of my earlier interviews with him, I used the word 
felicity three or four times. He asked, ' Why do you say 
felicity? Happiness is a better word, and genuine English, 
coming from the Saxon, and more musical, as are generally the 
words derived from the Saxon. Listen : " My heart is smitten 
and withered like grass." There's plaintive music. Again, 
" Thou hast delivered my eyes from tears, my soul from death, 
and my feet from falling : " all Saxon except delivered. I could 
think of that word tears till I wept. Then again for another 



CLEARNESS, FORCE, AND HARMONY. 97 

specimen, almost all good old Saxon, " Surely goodness and 
mercy shall follow me all the days of my life ; and I will dwell 
in the house of the Lord forever." ' " 

Bunyan's " Pilgrim's Progress " owes much of its 
never weakened power to its plain, short words. You 
can read from this book to a mixed company of old and 
young, of all grades of intelligence, and they will listen : 
the most illiterate, because it is so artless in its simple, 
graphic style and vivid pictures ; and the most educated, 
because it fulfills the highest conditions of art in its 
perfect fidelity to nature and truth. 

In one of the interior counties of New York State a 
law case was being tried which turned upon the date at 
which a certain thing was done. The judge told the 
jury that their verdict must be for the plaintiff or the 
defendant, according as they found that the thing in 
question was done prior or subsequent to a given date. 
The case was perfectly simple ; but after a considerable 
time the jury returned to the court room and asked for 
further instructions. They wanted to know what his 
Honor the Judge meant by "prior or subsequent" The 
judge promptly substituted before and after, and the 
jury agreed on a verdict. To the untutored minds of 
this rustic jury the conversion of such plain homespun 
words as before and after into the Latin derivatives prior 
and subsequent, was as complex a transformation as that 
by which Dr. Johnson in his definition of network turns 
it into " anything reticulated or decussated at equal dis- 
tances, with interstices between the intersections." 

It is hard to see why text-books of rhetoric which 
urge simplicity in the use of words should turn chapters 
on " Letter Writing" into directions for " Epistolary 
Correspondence." 

SCH. ENG. — 7 



98 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

III. Order of Words. 

The emphasis given to a word or clause depends 
chiefly upon its position in the sentence. Certain 
methods of arranging words have become recognized 
forms known by distinct names. Though often regarded 
as figures of speech, and classed under that head in 
works on rhetoric, they are given here as being the 
chief means by which force has been gained in many 
well-known examples from English literature. 

(a) Force is lost by failure to make use of a natural 
climax. 

Climax consists in arranging a series of thoughts 
or ideas so that the more important follow the less 
important. 

Ex. I came, I saw, I conquered. 

Notice the loss of force from disturbing the climax, 
even though the order in time be preserved : — 

I conquered after I came and saw. 

A sentence in which the less important thought 
follows the more important is called an anti-climax. 

All the force of the well-known original is lost by the 
new order of the phrases in the following sentence : — 

Ex. Washington was first in the hearts of his countrymen, and 
first in peace, and first in war. 

One of the best examples of effective climax is the 
following extract from Burke's speech against Warren 
Hastings : — 

" Therefore, hath it with all confidence been ordered by the 
Commons of Great Britain, that I impeach Warren Hastings of 
high crimes and misdemeanors. I impeach him in the name 



CLEARNESS, FORCE, AND HARMONY. 99 

of the Commons' House of Parliament, whose trust he has 
betrayed. I impeach him in the name of the English nation, 
whose ancient honor he has sullied. I impeach him in the 
name of the people of India, whose rights he has trodden under 
foot, and whose country he has turned into a desert. Lastly, 
in the name of human nature itself, in the name of both sexes, 
in the name of every age, in the name of every rank, I impeach 
the common enemy and oppressor of all ! " 

The following is from Shakespeare : — 

" Wise men ne'er sit and wail their loss, 
But cheerly seek how to redress their harms. 
What though the mast be now blown overboard, 
The cable broke, the holding-anchor lost, 
And half our sailors swallow'd in the flood ? 
Yet lives our pilot still." 

On the same principle force is often lost by adding a 
supplementary clause or phrase after the main thought 
of the sentence has been stated. 

A sentence in which the main thought is suspended 
until the close is called a periodic sentence, or a period. 

A sentence in which the main thought is not sus- 
pended until the close is called a loose sentence. 

PERIODIC SENTENCES. 

i. When, under a tropical sun, he ruled fifty millions of 
Asiatics, his hopes, amidst all the cares of war, finance, and 
legislation, still pointed to Daylesford. 

2. In that temple of silence and reconciliation where the 
enmities of twenty generations lie buried, in the Great Abbey 
which has during many ages afforded a quiet resting place to 
those whose minds and bodies have been shattered by the con- 
tentions of the Great Hall, the dust of the illustrious accused 
should have mingled with the dust of the illustrious accusers. 



100 SCHOOL ENCxLISH. 

By altering the order of clauses, the foregoing sen- 
tences become loose sentences ; as follows : — 

i. His hopes still pointed to Daylesford amidst all the cares 
of war, finance, and legislation, when under a tropical sun he 
ruled fifty millions of Asiatics. 

2. The dust of the illustrious accused should have been 
mingled with the dust of the illustrious accusers, in that temple 
of silence and reconciliation where the enmities of twenty gen- 
erations lie buried, in the Great Abbey which has during many 
ages afforded a quiet resting place to those whose minds and 
bodies have been shattered by the contentions of the Great 
Hall. 

As a rule, when a sentence contains a thought which 
should be given special emphasis, greater force can be 
secured by the periodic than by the loose sentence. 
This does not mean that all sentences should be peri- 
odic, for a continued succession of such sentences is 
unnatural and wearisome. 

EXERCISE. 

Change the following sentences from loose to periodic, and 
notice the gain in force by emphasis of the important thoughts : — 

i. I always prophesied his greatness, from the first moment 
I saw him, then a very young and unknown man. There are 
no limits to his knowledge, on small subjects as well as great. 

2. Those who look on his character without favor or malevo- 
lence will pronounce that he was deficient in the two great 
elements of all social virtue, in respect for the rights of others, 
and in sympathy for the sufferings of others. 

3. It is no easy matter to prevent people from going too fast 
from want of patience when they are advancing in anything. 

4. I never would lay down my arms, if I were an American as 
I am an Englishman, and foreign troops landed in my country. 



CLEARNESS, FORCE, AND HARMONY. 10 1 

(b) Force is lost by failure to make use of antithesis. 

Antithesis consists in making similar in order and in 
construction the parts of a sentence which contain con- 
trasted thought. 
Ex. The prodigal robs his heir, the miser robs himself. 

Notice the loss of force from abandoning the antithesis. 

The prodigal robs his heir, but the miser gets no good out of 
his money. 

EXAMPLES OF ANTITHESIS. 

i. Fools who came to scoff, remained to pray. 

2. When our vices leave us, we flatter ourselves we leave 
them. 

3. A proverb is the wisdom of many and the wit of one. 

4. He lives in fame that dies in virtue's cause. 

(c) Force is sometimes lost by failure to make itse of a 
possible inversion. 

Inversion consists in putting a word or phrase out of 
its natural order for the sake of rhetorical effect. 

Ex. Great is Diana of the Ephesians. 

Visibly through his garden walketh God. 

These are more forcible sentences than if they were in 
the natural order of subject first, and predicate last; as, — 

Diana of the Ephesians is great. 

God walketh visibly through his garden. 

Notice that in one of the original examples emphasis 
is secured by placing the adjective first, in the other 
sentence emphasis is gained by placing the noun .last. 
It is not the position of the first or last words that em- 
phasizes them, but the fact that, being out of their nat- 
ural position, the reader comes upon them unexpectedly. 



102 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

IV. Form of the Sentence. 

Force is often gained by putting a sentence in the inter- 
rogative or exclamatory form when the object is to make 
a declarative statement. 

Doth Job serve God for naught? 
How wonderful is Death, 
Death and his brother, Sleep! 
Oh that I were a man! 

are more forcible ways of saying : — 

Job makes something out of serving God. 

Death is very wonderful, and so is his brother, Sleep. 

I wish I were a man. 

Many verses of the Book of Job consist of interroga- 
tive sentences for rhetorical effect. 

Ex. Doth the wild ass bray when he hath grass? or loweth the 

ox over his fodder ? 
Can that which is unsavory be eaten without salt? or is 

there any taste in the white of an egg? 
Is my strength the strength of stones? or is my flesh of 

brass ? 
Can the rush grow up without mire? Can the flag grow 

without water? 
Should a wise man utter vain knowledge, and fill his belly 

with the east wind? 

The Bible abounds also in exclamatory sentences used 
for making forcible assertions. 

Ex. How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of Hosts ! 
How terrible art thou in all thy works ! 

The exclamatory form is frequently used for the 
expression of passionate thought. 

Ex. Oh, that this too, too solid flesh would melt, thaw, and 
resolve itself into a dew ! 
Alas, poor Country ! 



CLEARNESS, FORCE, AND HARMONY. 103 

EXAMPLES. 

Show how greater force might be given to the expression 
of the thought in each of the following sentences : — 

1. This is what Christianity has done for us. This is what 
it has done for you. This is what it has done for me. 

2. He gathered them up together in one place. 

3. The accepted time is now. 

4. I have no silver and gold. 

5. The highest mountains were the ones selected for their 
dwelling. 

6. To bind a Roman citizen is an outrage ; to put him to 
death by crucifixion — what shall I call it? To scourge him is 
an atrocious crime, to put him to death is almost parricide. 

7. When reason is against a man, he will not be reasonable. 

8. I do not live to eat, but I take my meals for the sake 
of keeping alive. 

9. Every one was dressed in his best suit of clothes. 

10. The account of his life must necessarily be a fragmen- 
tary one. 

11. All Lawrence ville is happy and excited, and getting in 
readiness for the event. 

12. She looked perfectly contented, and was eating ice-cream. 

13. Paul, before his conversion, led a life of sin and badness. 

14. He organized and started the great and excellent work 
of carrying the Gospel to the Gentiles. 

15. There will be no peace for England until you come 
back to that system. 

16. What is liberty without virtue and without wisdom? It 
is the greatest of all evils, for it is madness, vice, and folly. 

17. Leave America to tax herself, if she has taxable matter 
in her. 

18. Now where is the revenue which is to do all these mighty 
things ? Five sixths repealed — lost forever — gone — sunk — 
abandoned ! 



104 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 



HARMONY. 



Avoid Repetition. — We have already referred to the 
repetition of the same sound or word. Though Ten- 
nyson has employed one word five or six times in as 
many lines of poetry, it does not follow that repetition 
is always pleasing to the ear. On the contrary, the 
continued recurrence of the same sound is generally 
disagreeable, and should be avoided when possible to 
do so without destroying the sense. If a writer has 
inadvertently used the same word three or four times in 
a few lines, probably the clearness of what he has 
written would be improved by substituting a different 
word at least once or twice. 

(a) When nothing is gained in clearness or rhetorical 
effect, avoid frequently repeating the same sound or word. 

Exception. — If, however, there is only one word that 
will express the meaning, do not be afraid to repeat this 
word as often as you wish to repeat the idea it ex- 
presses. In the following sentence the word awful is 
used three times. In two instances the sense may be 
improved by substituting another word. That this 
change of wording will greatly improve the sound of 
the sentence may be made evident by reading the two 
examples aloud : — 

Violation. — It was an awful night in the cab of the engine ; but 
the engineer had to make time in spite of the awful wind and the 
blinding rain which obscured his vision, as he peered from the 
engine window into the awful darkness beyond. 

Correction. — It was a dreary night in the cab of the locomotive ; 
but the engineer had to make good time in spite of the terrific wind 
and the blinding rain which obscured his vision, as he peered from 
the cab window into the awful darkness beyond. 



CLEARNESS, FORCE, AND HARMONY. I OS 

EXAMPLES FOR CORRECTION. 

i. The heaps of refuse in the streets, especially the up-town 
streets, were frozen solid, and almost defied the attacks of the 
gangs of sons of sunny Italy. 

2. God hides nothing from us. The difficulty lies in the fact 
that we are not able to understand all things. The Prophets 
were told all things that they might tell us, though many things 
are beyond our comprehension. 

3. A life of St. Paul must be fragmentary owing to the fact 
that very few facts are given in The Acts. The account of his 
life as found in The Acts of the Apostles begins a long time 
after his birth, and ends some time before his death ; at the 
same time, however, the facts from the time of his birth to the 
time we last hear of him are given in minute detail. 

4. They sail to Salamis on the Island of Cyprus where they 
preach in the synagogues ; from there they cross to Paphos, 
where the sorcerer Elymas is struck blind. Then they cross 
to Perga, where John leaves them. Next they go to Antioch 
in Pisidia, where they make many converts ; but they are 
driven from the city by the rulers, and they go to Iconium, 
where they are again driven out and flee to Lystra. 

(b) The harmony of a sentence is often destroyed by a 
combination of words that will not glide smoothly from 
the tongue. 

Examples. — Nursery literature provides examples of 
sentences and phrases purposely constructed so that it 
is almost impossible to repeat them correctly several 
times in rapid succession. 

Ex. "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, 1 ' etc.; or, 
" The cat ran over the roof of a house with a piece of red 
raw liver in its mouth, 11 u Good blood, bad blood, black bot- 
tles, blue blotter. 11 



106 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

Often, however, a sentence is difficult to pronounce, 
though it has not been written with that end in view. 
The translators of the Bible have made a combination 
of words that requires a flexible tongue to be spoken 
rapidly : " Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the 
Father and it sufficeth us." We will not, however, 
suggest an improvement. 

Practical Suggestion. — Often in our reading we 
come across similar combinations, but it is extremely 
difficult to classify them as violations of specific rules. 
Accordingly, our suggestion under this head is for the 
writer to read aloud zvhat he has written, and notice 
the sound, as tvell as the sense. If the sound is not 
agreeable, or if the matter is difficult to read, alter it 
so as to remove the objection. 

Several text-books of rhetoric instruct the pupil to 
construct his sentences so that there shall be " a pleas- 
ing cadence," or fall of the voice, at the close ; and one 
suggests that the last word of a sentence should have 
an alternation of long and short syllables, or at least 
that the next to the last should be long. But though we 
may imagine that such an arrangement is the cause of 
beauty in one melodious sentence, mechanical imitation 
would be utterly unsuccessful. Persian rugs cannot be 
made by steam-power looms ; nor can a schoolboy be 
taught to write musically, except by bringing out the 
music within him, by his own efforts at reading and 
writing. More inspiration may be gained from reading 
the best productioi A , cureQ famous authors than by correct- 
ing the faults of poor i driters. The following extracts 
are given in order that the student may see into what 
power and melody genius has combined the words of 
our language : — 



CLEARNESS, FORCE, AND HARMONY. 107 

extracts to illustrate force and harmony, 
portia's plea for mercy. 

[FROM "THE MERCHANT OF VENICE," ACT IV., SCENE I.] 

The quality of mercy is not strain'd, 

It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven 

Upon the place beneath : it is twice bless'd ; 

It blesseth him that gives and him that takes : 

'Tis mightiest in the mightiest : it becomes 

The throned monarch better than his crown ; 

His scepter shows the force of temporal power, 

The attribute to awe and majesty, 

Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings ; 

But mercy is above this sceptered sway ; 

It is enthroned in the hearts of kings, 

It is an attribute to God himself; 

And earthly power doth then show likest God's, 

When mercy seasons justice. Therefore, Jew, 

Though justice be thy plea, consider this. 

That, in the course of justice, none of us 

Should see salvation : we do pray for mercy ; 

And that same prayer doth teach us all to render 

The deeds of mercy. 

THE CLOUD. 

SHELLEY. 

I bring fresh showers for the thirsting flowers, 

From the seas and the streams ; 
I bear light shade for the leaves when laid 

In their noonday dreams. 
From my wings are shaken the dews that waken 

The sweet buds every one, 
When rocked to rest on their mother's breast. 

As she dances about the sun. 
I wield the flail of the lashing hail, 

And whiten the green plains under ; 
And then again I dissolve it in rain, 

And laugh as I pass in thunder. 



108 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

I sift the snow on the mountains below. 

And their great pines groan aghast ; 
And all the night 'tis my pillow white, 

While I sleep in the arms of the blast. 
Sublime on the towers of my skyey bowers 

Lightning my pilot sits ; 
In a cavern under is fettered the thunder, 

It struggles and howls at fits ; 
Over earth and ocean, with gentle motion, 

This pilot is guiding me, 
Lured by the love of the genii that move 

In the depths of the purple sea ; 
Over the rills and the crags and the hills, 

Over the lakes and the plains, 
Wherever he dream under mountain or stream 

The spirit he loves remains ; 
And I all the while bask in heaven's blue smile, 

Whilst he is dissolving in rains. 

The sanguine sunrise, with his meteor eyes, 

And his burning plumes outspread, 
Leaps on the back of my sailing rack, 

When the morning-star shines dead, 
As on the jag of a mountain-crag, 

Which an earthquake rocks and swings, 
An eagle alit one moment may sit 

In the light of its golden wings. 
And, when sunset may breathe from the lit sea beneath 

Its ardors of rest and of love, 
And the crimson pall of eve may fall 

From the depth of heaven above, 
With wings folded I rest on mine airy nest, 

As still as a brooding dove. 



That orbed maiden with white fire laden, 
Whom mortals call the Moon, 

Glides glimmering o'er my fleece-like floor, 
By the midnight breezes strewn ; 



CLEARNESS, FORCE, AND HARMONY. IO9 

And, wherever the beat of her unseen feet, 

Which only the angels hear, 
May have broken the woof of my tenfs thin roof, 

The stars peep behind her and peer. 
And I laugh to see them whirl and flee 

Like a swarm of golden bees, 
When I widen the rent in my wind-built tent, 

Till the calm rivers, lakes, and seas, 
Like strips of the sky fallen through me on high, 

Are each paved with the moon and these. 



I bind the sun's throne with a burning zone, 

And the moon's with a girdle of pearl ; 
The volcanoes are dim, and the stars reel and swim, 

When the whirlwinds my banner unfurl. 
From cape to cape, w T ith a bridge-like shape, 

Over a torrent sea, 
Sunbeam-proof, I hang like a roof, 

The mountains its columns be. 
The triumphal arch through which I march 

With hurricane, fire, and snow, 
When the powers of the air are chained to my chair, 

Is the million-colored bow ; 
The sphere-fire above its soft colors wove, 

While the moist earth was laughing below. 

I am the daughter of the earth and water, 

And the nursling of the sky ; 
I pass through the pores of the ocean and shores ; ■ 

I change, but I cannot die. 
For after the rain, when, with never a stain 

The pavilion of heaven is bare, 
And the winds and sunbeams with their convex gleams 

Build up the blue dome of air, 
I silently laugh at my own cenotaph, 

And out of the caverns of rain, 
Like a child from the womb, like a ghost from the tomb, 

I arise, and unbuild it again. 



110 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

[FROM DE QUINCEY'S " ENGLISH MAIL-COACH."] 

Passion of sudden death ! that once in youth I read and 
interpreted by the shadows of thy averted signs — rapture of 
panic taking the shape (which amongst tombs in churches I 
have seen) of woman bursting her sepulchral bonds — of 
woman's Ionic form bending forward from the ruins of her 
grave with arching foot, with eyes upraised, with clasped 
adoring hands — waiting, watching, trembling, praying for the 
trumpet's call to rise from dust forever ! Ah, vision too fearful 
of shuddering humanity on the brink of almighty abysses ! — 
vision that didst start back, that didst reel away, like a shrivel- 
ing scroll from before the wrath of fire racing on the wings of 
the wind ! Epilepsy so brief of horror, wherefore is it that 
thou canst not die ? Passing so suddenly into darkness, where- 
fore is it that still thou sheddest thy sad funeral blights upon 
the gorgeous mosaics of dreams? Fragment of music too 
passionate, heard once, and heard no more, what aileth thee, 
that thy deep rolling chords come up at intervals through all 
the worlds of sleep, and after thirty years have lost no element 
of horror ? 

I. 

Lo, it is summer — almighty summer ! The everlasting 
gates of life and summer are thrown open wide ; and on the 
ocean, tranquil and verdant as a savannah, the unknown lady 
from the dreadful vision and I myself are floating — she upon 
a fairy pinnace, and I upon an English three-decker. Both of 
us are wooing gales of festal happiness within the domain of 
our common country, within that ancient watery park, within 
that pathless chase of ocean, where England takes her pleasure 
as a huntress through winter and summer, from the rising to 
the setting sun. Ah, what a wilderness of floral beauty was 
hidden, or was suddenly revealed, upon the tropic islands 
through which the pinnace moved ! And upon her deck what 
a bevy of human flowers — young women how lovely, young 



CLEARNESS, FORCE, AND HARMONY. IIT 

men how noble, that were dancing together, and slowly drift- 
ing towards us amidst music and incense, amidst blossoms from 
forest and gorgeous corymbi from vintages, amidst natural 
caroling, and the echoes of sweet girlish laughter. Slowly the 
pinnace nears us, gaily she hails us, and silently she disappears 
beneath the shadow of our mighty bows. But then, as at some 
signal from heaven, the music, and the carols, and the sweet 
echoing of girlish laughter — all are hushed. What evil has 
smitten the pinnace, meeting or overtaking her? Did ruin to 
our friends couch within our own dreadful shadow ? Was our 
shadow the shadow of death ? I looked over the bow for an 
answer, and, behold ! the pinnace was dismantled ; the revel 
and the revelers were found no more ■ the glory of the vintage 
was dust ; and the forests with their beauty were left without a 
witness upon the seas. " But where," and I turned to our 
crew — " where are the lovely women that danced beneath the 
awning of flowers and clustering corymbi ? Whither have fled 
the noble young men that danced with them?" Answer there 
was none. But suddenly the man at the masthead, whose 
countenance darkened with alarm, cried out, " Sail on the 
weather beam ! Down she comes upon us ; in seventy seconds 
she also will founder." 

II. 

I looked to the weather side, and the summer had departed. 
The sea was rocking, and shaken with gathering wrath. Upon 
its surface sat mighty mists, which grouped themselves into 
arches and long cathedral aisles. Down one of these, with the 
fiery pace of a quarrel from a crossbow, ran a frigate right 
athwart our course. " Are they mad?" some voice exclaimed 
from our deck. " Do they woo their ruin ? " But in a moment, 
as she was close upon us, some impulse of a heady current or 
local vortex gave a wheeling bias to her course, and off she 
forged without a shock. As she ran past us, high aloft amongst 
the shrouds stood the lady of the pinnace. The deeps opened 



112 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

ahead in malice to receive her, towering surge of foam ran after 
her, the billows were fierce to catch her. But far away she 
was borne into desert spaces of the sea; whilst still by sight I 
followed her, as she ran before the howling gale, chased by 
angry seabirds and by maddening billows ; still I saw her, as 
at the moment when she ran past us, standing amongst the 
shrouds, with her white draperies streaming before the wind. 
There she stood, with hair disheveled, one hand clutched 
amongst the tackling — rising, sinking, fluttering, trembling, 
praying — there for leagues I saw her as she stood, raising at 
intervals one hand to heaven, amidst the fiery crests of the 
pursuing waves and the raving of the storm ; until at last, upon 
a sound from afar of malicious laughter and mockery, all was 
hidden forever in driving showers ; and afterwards, but when 
I know not, nor how. 

III. 

Sweet funeral bells from some incalculable distance, wailing 
over the dead that die before the dawn, awakened me as I 
slept in a boat moored to some familiar shore. The morning 
twilight even then was breaking ; and, by the dusky revelations 
which it spread, I saw a girl, adorned with a garland of white 
roses about her head for some great festival, running along the 
solitary strand in extremity of haste. Her running was the 
running of panic ; and often she looked back as to some dread- 
ful enemy in the rear. But when I leaped ashore, and followed 
on her steps to warn her of a peril in front, alas ! from me she 
fled as from another peril, and vainly I shouted to her of quick- 
sands that lay ahead. Faster and faster she ran; round a 
promontory of rocks she wheeled out of sight ; in an instant 
I also wheeled round it, but only to see the treacherous sands 
gathering above her head. Already her person was buried ; 
only the fair young head and the diadem of white roses around 
it were still visible to the pitying heavens ; and, last of all, was 
visible one white marble arm. I saw by the early twilight this 



CLEARNESS, FORCE, AND HARMONY. 113 

fair young head, as it was sinking down to darkness — saw this 
marble arm, as it rose above her head and her treacherous 
grave, tossing, faltering, rising, clutching, at some false, deceiv- 
ing hand stretched out from the clouds — saw this marble arm 
uttering her dying hope, and then uttering her dying despair. 
The head, the diadem, the arm — these all had sunk ; at last 
over these also the cruel quicksand had closed ; and no 
memorial of the fair young girl remained on earth, except my 
own solitary tears, and the funeral bells from the desert seas, 
that, rising again more softly, sang a requiem over the grave 
of the buried child, and over her blighted dawn. 

I sat, and wept in secret the tears that men have ever given 
to the memory of those that died before the dawn, and by the 
treachery of earth, our mother. But suddenly the tears and 
funeral bells were hushed by a shout as of many nations, and 
by a roar as from some great king's artillery, advancing rapidly 
along the valleys, and heard afar by echoes from the mountains. 
"Hush!" I said, as I bent my ear earthwards to listen — 
" hush ! — this either is the very anarchy of strife, or else " — 
and then I listened more profoundly, and whispered as I 
raised my head — " or else, oh, heavens ! it is victory that is 
final, victory that swallows up all strife." 

VI. 

Immediately, in trance, I was carried over land and sea to 
some distant kingdom, and placed upon a triumphal car, 
amongst companions crowned with laurel. The darkness of 
gathering midnight brooding over all the land, hid from us the 
mighty crowds that were weaving restlessly about ourselves as 
a center : we heard them, but saw them not. Tidings had 
arrived within an hour, of a grandeur that measured itself 
against centuries ; too full of pathos they were, too full of 
joy, to utter themselves by other language than by tears, by 
restless anthems, and Te Deums reverberated from the choirs 
and orchestras of earth. These tidings we that sat upon the 
sch. eng. — 8 



114 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

laureled car had it for our privilege to publish amongst all 
nations. And already, by signs audible through the darkness, 
by snortings and tramplings, our angry horses, that knew no 
fear of fleshly weariness, upbraided us with delay. Wherefore 
was it that we delayed? We waited for a secret word, that 
should bear witness to the hope of nations, as now accom- 
plished forever. At midnight the secret word arrived ; which 
word was — Waterloo and recovered Christendom ! The 
dreadful word shone by its own light ; before us it went ; high 
above our leaders' heads it rode, and spread a golden light 
over the paths which we traversed. Every city at the presence 
of the secret word threw open its gates. The rivers were con- 
scious as we crossed. All the forests, as we ran along their 
margins, shivered in homage to the secret word. And the 
darkness comprehended it. 

Two hours after midnight we approached a mighty Minster. 
Its gates, which rose to the clouds, were closed. But when 
the dreadful word, that rode before us, reached them with its 
golden light, silently they moved back upon their hinges ; and 
at a flying gallop our equipage entered the grand aisle of the 
cathedral. Headlong was our pace ; and at every altar, in 
the little chapels and oratories to the right hand and left of 
our course, the lamps, dying or sickening, kindled anew in 
sympathy with the secret word that was flying past. Forty 
leagues we might have run in the cathedral, and as yet no 
strength of morning light had reached us, when before us we 
saw the aerial galleries of organ and choir. Every pinnacle of 
the fretwork, every station of advantage amongst the traceries, 
was crested by white-robed choristers, that sang deliverance : 
that wept no more tears, as once their fathers had wept ; but 
at intervals that sang together to the generations, saying, — 

" Chant the deliverer's praise in every tongue," 

and receiving answers from afar, — 

u Such as once in heaven and earth were sung." 



CLEARNESS, FORCE, AND HARMONY. 1 1 5 

And of their chanting was no end ; of our headlong pace was 
neither pause nor slackening. 

Thus, as we ran like torrents — . thus, as we swept with bridal 
rapture over the Campo Santo of the cathedral graves — sud- 
denly we became aware of a vast necropolis rising upon the 
far-off horizon — a city of sepulchers, built within the saintly 
cathedral for the warrior dead that rested from their feuds on 
earth. Of purple granite was the necropolis ; yet, in the first 
minute, it lay like a purple stain upon the horizon, so mighty 
was the distance. In the second minute it trembled through 
many changes, growing into terraces and towers of wondrous 
altitude, so mighty was the space. In the third minute already, 
with our dreadful gallop, we were entering its suburbs. Vast 
sarcophagi rose on every side, having towers and turrets that, 
upon the limits of the central aisle, strode forward with haughty 
intrusion, that ran back with mighty shadows into answering 
recesses. Every sarcophagus showed many bas-reliefs — bas- 
reliefs of battles and of battlefields ; battles from forgotten 
ages — battles from yesterday - — battlefields that, long since, 
nature had healed and reconciled to herself with the sweet 
oblivion of flowers — battlefields that were yet angry and 
crimson with carnage. Where the terraces ran, there did we 
run ; where the towers curved, there did we curve. With the 
flight of swallows our horses swept round every angle. Like 
rivers in flood, wheeling round headlands — like hurricanes 
that ride into the secrets of forests — faster than ever light 
unwove the mazes of darkness, our flying equipage carried 
earthly passions, kindled warrior instincts, amongst the dust 
that lay around us — dust oftentimes of our noble fathers that 
had slept in God from Cr£cy to Trafalgar. And now had we 
reached the last sarcophagus, now were we abreast of the last 
bas-relief, already had we recovered the arrow-like flight of the 
illimitable central aisle, when coming up this aisle to meet us 
we beheld afar off a female child, that rode in a carriage as 
frail as flowers. The mists, that went before her, hid the fawns 



Il6 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

that drew her, but could not hide the shells and tropic flowers 
with which she played — but could not hide the lovely smiles 
by which she uttered her trust in the mighty cathedral, and 
in the cherubim that looked down upon her from the mighty 
shafts of its pillars. Face to face she was meeting us ; face to 
face she rode, as if danger there were none. " O baby ! " 
I exclaimed, " shalt thou be the ransom for Waterloo ? Must 
we, that carry tidings of great joy to every people, be messen- 
gers of ruin to thee ! " In horror I rose at the thought ; but 
then also, in horror at the thought, rose one that was sculptured 
on a bas-relief — a dying trumpeter. Solemnly from the field 
of battle he rose to his feet ; and, unslinging his stony trumpet, 
carried it, in his dying anguish, to his stony lips — sounding 
once, and yet once again, proclamation that, in thy ears, O 
baby ! spoke from the battlements of death. Immediately 
deep shadows fell between us and aboriginal silence. The 
choir had ceased to sing. The hoofs of our horses, the dread- 
ful rattle of our harness, the groaning of our wheels, alarmed 
the graves no more. By horror the bas-relief had been unlocked 
into life. By horror we, that were so full of life, we men and 
our horses, with their fiery fore legs rising in mid-air to their 
everlasting gallop, were frozen to a bas-relief. Then a third 
time the trumpet sounded ; the seals were taken off all pulses ; 
life, and the frenzy of life, tore into their channels again ; again 
the choir burst forth in sunny grandeur, as from the muffling of 
storms and darkness ; again the thunderings of our horses 
carried temptation into the graves. One cry burst from our 
lips, as the clouds, drawing off from the aisle, showed it empty 
before us — " Whither has the infant fled ? — is the young child 
caught up to God? " Lo ! afar off, in a vast recess, rose three 
mighty windows to the clouds ; and, on a level with their sum- 
mits, at height insuperable to man, rose an altar of purest 
alabaster. On its eastern face was trembling a crimson glory. 
A glory was it from the reddening dawn that now streamed 
through the windows? Was it from the crimson robes of the 



CLEARNESS, FORCE, AND HARMONY. 117 

martyrs painted on the windows ? Was it from the bloody 
bas-reliefs of earth? There, suddenly, within that crimson 
radiance, rose the apparition ot a woman's head, and then of 
a woman's figure. The child it was — grown up to woman's 
height. Clinging to the horns of the altar, voiceless she stood 
— sinking, rising, raving, despairing; and behind the volume 
of incense, that, night and day, streamed upwards from the 
altar, dimly was seen the fiery font, and the shadow of that 
dreadful being who should have baptized her with the baptism 
of death. But by her side was kneeling her better angel, that 
hid his face with wings ; that wept and pleaded for her; that 
prayed when she could not ; that fought with Heaven by tears 
for her deliverance ; which also, as he raised his immortal 
countenance from his wings, I saw, by the glory in his eye, 
that from Heaven he had won at last. 

Then was completed the passion of the mighty fugue. The 
golden tubes of the organ, which as yet had but muttered at 
intervals — gleaming amongst clouds and surges of incense — 
threw up, as from fountains unfathomable, columns of heart- 
shattering music. Choir and anti-choir were filling fast with 
unknown voices. Thou also, Dying Trumpeter ! — with thy 
love that was victorious, and thy anguish that was finishing — 
didst enter the tumult ; trumpet and echo — farewell love and 
farewell anguish — rang through the dreadful sanctus. Oh, 
darkness of the grave ! that from the crimson altar and from 
the fiery font wert visited and searched by the effulgence in 
the angel's eye — were these indeed thy children ? Pomps of 
life, that, from the burials of centuries, rose again to the voice 
of perfect joy, did ye indeed mingle with the festivals of Death? 
Lo ! as I looked back for seventy leagues through the mighty 
cathedral, I saw the quick and the dead that sang together to 
God, together that sang to the generations of man. All the 
hosts of jubilation, like armies that ride in pursuit, moved with 
one step. Us, that, with laureled heads, were passing from the 
cathedral, they overtook, and, as with a garment, they wrapped 



Il8 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

us round with thunders greater than our own. As brothers we 
moved together ; to the dawn that advanced — to the stars 
that fled ; rendering thanks to God in the highest — that, 
having hid His face through one generation behind thick clouds 
of War, once again was ascending — from the Campo Santo of 
Waterloo was ascending — in the visions of Peace ; rendering 
thanks for thee, young girl ! whom, having overshadowed with 
His ineffable passion of death, suddenly did God relent ; suf- 
fered thy angel to turn aside His arm ; and even in thee, sister 
unknown ! shown to me for a moment only to be hidden for- 
ever, found an occasion to glorify His goodness. A thousand 
times, amongst the phantoms of sleep, have I seen thee enter- 
ing the gates of the golden-dawn — with the secret word riding 
before thee — with the armies of the grave behind thee ; seen 
thee, sinking, rising, raving, despairing ; a thousand times in 
the worlds of sleep have seen thee followed by God's angel 
through storms ; through desert seas ; through the darkness of 
quicksands ; through dreams, and the dreadful revelations that 
are in dreams — only that at the last, with one sling of His 
victorious arm, He might snatch thee back from ruin, and 
might emblazon in thy deliverance the endless resurrections of 
His love ! 



CHAPTER V. 
FIGURES OF SPEECH. 

Illustration and Definition. — The rules given in the 
previous chapter have dealt principally with the choice 
and arrangement of words, without suggesting any sig- 
nificant change in the method of expressing thought. 
But before leaving the subject of clearness and force, 
it will be necessary to acquaint the pupil with the fact 
that there is a clearer, stronger, and more attractive way 
of expressing our thoughts than by the literal statement 
of what we have in mind. When David said, — "The 
righteous shall flourish like the palm tree : he shall grow 
like a cedar in Lebanon," — he gave a clearer impression 
of the blessings of the righteous than he could possibly 
have given in the same number of words used literally. 

Indeed, it may be often more forcible to say the 
opposite of what we mean, and to exhibit the remote- 
ness of that statement from the truth, than to make a 
simple statement of what is true. It is a more scathing 
rebuke to call a man an honorable gentleman iri sarcasm 
than to call him a mean rowdy in truth. We are so 
familiar with these principles, though we may never 
have thought of them as fixed laws, that we instinc- 
tively make use of them when trying to convey our 
meaning to others. 

A deviation from the literal use of language for the 
sake of greater effect is a figure of speech. 

U9 



120 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

Figures are also called tropes 1 (from the Greek, 
rp'tTreiv, trepein, to turn), because when used with a 
figurative significance, a word is turned from its ordi- 
nary meaning to one suggested by resemblance, associa- 
tion, or contrast. 

Relation to Clearness and Force. — The following 
pages are devoted to an explanation of the commonest 
figures, or tropes. In studying these pages the student 
should bear in mind that the object in view is to enable 
him to write clearly and forcibly; for in the majority 
of cases the page of writing that is very clear in mean- 
ing, or that impresses one with great force, is marked 
by the apt use of figurative language, and therefore in 
discussing clearness and force a knowledge of figures is 
essential. 

Above all things, the student should be saved from 
the belief that figures are ornaments of style, to be 
tacked on to one's writing to make it finer than it was 
before, and that therefore he should have them all by 
name. 

FIGURES BASED UPON RESEMBLANCE. 

I. Simile. — In the sentence, " The ungodly are like 
the chaff which the wind driveth away," the violent end 
of the ungodly is suggested by their resemblance to the 
worthless part of the grain which is blown away by the 
wind. The objects compared are alike only in this 
respect; viz., that both are finally cast aside as worth- 
less. If they were alike in many respects, there would 



1 Some writers confine the meaning of the word trope to a single word 
used in other than its ordinary significance. This definition would exclude 
simile, irony, and other extended figures. 



FIGURES OF SPEECH. 121 

be no figure ; for as the comparison would be literal, 
there would be no departure from the ordinary use of 
language. It is no figure to say of a man that he is as 
treacherous as an Indian, or that the earth is round like 
an orange. But it is a figure of speech to say, " My 
love is like the red, red rose," or, " Kings are like 
stars — they rise and set." 

That figure in which an idea is suggested by pointing 
out a resemblance between things otherwise unlike is 
called simile. 

EXAMPLES. 

Tell which of the following sentences contain similes, and 
explain wherein the figure consists : — 

As snow in summer, and as rain in harvest, so honor is not 
seemly for a fool. 

As for man, his days are as grass ; as a flower of the field 
so he flourisheth. 

Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth 
them that fear him. 

But the cruel rocks, they gored her side 
Like the horns of an angry bull. 

This is the Arsenal. From floor to ceiling, 
Like a huge organ, rise the burnished arms. 

Pity, like a naked, new-born babe, striding the blast. 

The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold. 

As killing as the canker to the rose, 

Or taint-worm to the weanling herds that graze, 

Or frost to flowers, that their gay wardrobe wear, 

When first the whitethorn blows ; 

Such, Lycidas, thy loss to shepherds' ear. 



122 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

Blue were her eyes as the fairy flax, 

Her cheek like the dawn of day, 
And her bosom white as the hawthorn buds 

That ope in the month of May. 

Many a night I saw the Pleiads, rising through the mellow shade, 
Glitter like a swarm of fireflies tangled in a silver braid. 

She never told her love, 
But let concealment, like a worm i' the bud, 
Feed on her damask cheek : she pined in thought ; 
And, with a green and yellow melancholy, 
She sat like Patience on a monument, 
Smiling at grief. 

So said he ; and the barge with oar and sail 
Moved from the brink, like some full-breasted swan 
That, fluting a wild carol ere her death, 
Ruffles her pure cold plume, and takes the flood 
With swarthy webs. 

II. Metaphor. — The quotation, "A star was in her 
midnight hair," does not really mean that any star was 
there, or that the hair had anything to do with midnight. 
It does mean that a gem was in her dark hair; that 
the gem was like a star in brightness ; and that her 
hair was dark as midnight. If we point out the re- 
semblance and say, " A starlike gem was in her dark 
as midnight hair," we undoubtedly suggest much more 
than the literal statement. But if we assume the resem- 
blance, and call the gem a star and the hair midnight, 
we paint a stronger picture, and use fewer words in 
doing it. 

Substituting the name of one object for the name of 
another which resembles it y is the most frequently used 



FIGURES OF SPEECH. . 123 

and the most forcible of all figures of speech, and is 
known by the name of metaphor. 

In metaphor, the resemblance is implied, not ex- 
pressed. In this respect only does metaphor differ 
from simile. Omit the words of comparison, and all 
similes become metaphors. 

" The righteous shall be a flourishing palm tree : he 
shall be a cedar growing in Lebanon," — is an example 
of simife with the words of comparison omitted, and is 
therefore become a metaphor. 

Most slang expressions are ridiculous but forcible 
metaphors. 

To call any one a hummer, a daisy, a hog, or a wool- 
gatherer, or to say that he is not in it, or that his leg is 
pulled, is a figure of speech based on a fancied resem- 
blance. 

EXPLAIN THE METAPHOR IN THE FOLLOWING EXAMPLES. 

The ship of state. 

The sinews of war. 

The staff of life. 

The Lord is my Shepherd. 

She was a phantom of delight. 

He wears the rose of youth upon him. 

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet. 

The news was a dagger to his heart. 

There is a tide in the affairs of men which, taken at the flood, 
leads on to fortune. 

Come into the garden, Maud, 
For the black bat, night, has flown. 



124 . SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

Queen rose of the rosebud garden of girls, 

Come hither, the dances are done, 
In gloss of satin and glimmer of pearls, 

Queen lily and rose in one ; 
Shine out, little head, sunmng over with curls, 

To the flowers, and be their sun. 

One burnished sheet of living gold, 
Loch Katrine lay beneath him rolled. 

The soul of the rose went into my blood. 

This world is an unweeded garden. 

Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish 
in the courts of our God. 

They shall still bring forth fruit in old age ; they shall be fat 
and flourishing. 

III. Allegory. — The following extract is given as an 
illustration of allegory. 

[from bunyan's " pilgrim's progress."] 

Now I saw in my dream, that when Obstinate was gone 
back, Christian and Pliable went talking over the plain ; and 
thus they began their discourse. 

Chr. Come, neighbor Pliable, how do you do ? I am glad 
you are persuaded to go along with me. Had even Obstinate 
himself but felt what I have felt of the powers and terrors of 
what is yet unseen, he would not thus lightly have given us the 
back. 

Pli. Come, neighbor Christian, since there are none but us 
two here, tell me now farther, what the things are, and how to 
be enjoyed, whither we are going. 

Chr. I can better conceive of them with my mind, than 
speak of them with my tongue ; but yet, since you are desirous 
to know, I will read of them in my book. 



FIGURES OF SPEECH. 125 

Pli. And do you think that the words of your book are cer- 
tainly true ? 

Chr. Yes, verily ; for it was made by Him that cannot lie. 



Pli. Well, my good companion, glad am I to hear of these 
things : come on, let us mend our pace. 

Chr. I cannot go so fast as I would, by reason of this burden 
that is on my back. 

Now I saw in my dream, that just as they had ended this 
talk, they drew nigh tota very miry slough that was in the midst 
of the plain : and they being heedless, did both fall suddenly 
into the bog. The name of the slough was Despond. Here, 
therefore, they wallowed for a time, being grievously bedaubed 
with dirt \ and Christian, because of the burden that was on his 
back, began to sink in the mire. 

Then said Pliable, "Ah, neighbor Christian, where are you 
now?" 

"Truly," said Christian, " I do not know." 

At this Pliable began to be offended, and angrily said to 
his fellow, " Is this the happiness you have told me all this 
while of ? If we have such ill speed at our first setting out, 
what may we expect between this and our journey's end ? May 
I get out again with my life, you shall possess the brave country 
alone for me." And with that he gave a desperate struggle or 
two, and got out of the mire on that side of the slough which 
was next to his own house: so away he went, and Christian 
saw him no more. 

Wherefore Christian was left to tumble in the Slough of 
Despond alone ; but still he endeavored to struggle to that side 
of the slough that was farthest from his own house, and next to 
the wicket gate ; the which he did, but could not get out 
because of the burden that was upon his back : but I beheld 
in my dream, that a man came to him, whose name was Help, 
and asked him what he did there. 



126 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

" Sir," said Christian, " I was bid to go this way by a man 
called Evangelist, who directed me also to yonder gate, that I 
might escape the wrath to come. And as I was going thither, 
I fell in here." 

Help. But why did not you look for the steps? 

Chr. Fear followed me so hard that I fled the next way, and 
fell in. 

Then said Help, " Give me thy hand." So he gave him 
his hand, and he drew him out, and he set him upon sound 
ground, and bid him go on his way. 

Then I stepped to him that plucked him out, and said, " Sir, 
wherefore, since over this place is the way from the city of 
Destruction to yonder gate, is it, that this plat is not mended, 
that poor travelers might go thither with more security? " And 
he said unto me, "This miry slough is such a place as cannot 
be mended : it is the descent whither the scum and filth that 
attends conviction for sin doth continually run, and therefore 
it is called the Slough of Despond ; for still, as the sinner is 
awakened about his lost condition, there arise in his soul many 
fears and doubts, and discouraging apprehensions, which all of 
them get together, and settle in this place : and this is the 
reason of the badness of this ground. 

" It is not the pleasure of the King that this place should 
remain so bad. His laborers also have, by the direction of his 
Majesty's surveyors, been for above these sixteen hundred years 
employed about this patch of ground, if perhaps it might have 
been mended: yea, and to my knowledge," said he, "there 
have been swallowed up at least twenty thousand cartloads, yea, 
millions of wholesome instructions, that have at all seasons been 
brought from all places of the King's dominions (and they that 
can tell, say they are the best materials to make good ground of 
the place), if so be it might have been mended ; but it is the 
Slough of Despond still, and so will be when they have done 
what they can. 

" True, there are, by the direction of the Lawgiver, certain 



FIGURES OF SPEECH. 127 

good and substantial steps, placed even through the very midst 
of this slough ; but at such time as this place doth much spew 
out its filth, as it doth against change of weather, these steps 
are hardly seen ; or if they be, men, through the dizziness of 
their heads, step beside, and then they are bemired to pur- 
pose, notwithstanding the steps be there : but the ground is 
good when they are once got in at the gate." 

Now I saw in my dream, that by this time Pliable was got 
home to his house. So his neighbors came to visit him ; and 
some of them called him wise man for coming back, and 
some called him fool for hazarding himself with Christian : 
others, again, did mock at his cowardliness, saying, " Surely, 
since you began to venture, I would not have been so base as 
to have given out for a few difficulties." So Pliable sat sneak- 
ing among them. But at last he got more confidence, and then 
they all turned their tales, and began to deride poor Christian 
behind his back. And thus much concerning Pliable. 

The passage just quoted is from a book familiar by 
name at least to all, and remarkable for its simplicity 
and power. In this work, by giving an account of the 
difficulties which a traveler encounters in going from 
one city to another, Bunyan portrays, more graphi- 
cally than any other writer before or since his time, the 
experiences of a Christian in his life upon earth. In 
the extract above we have read two stories at once : one 
of a man who has trouble in crossing a stream ; and 
the other, an account of the despondencies of a recent 
convert to Christianity. The passage is really an ex- 
tended metaphor ; and the double narrative results from 
the fact that the words may be taken in their literal 
meaning or in that suggested by the law of resem- 
blance. 

A story which thus implies another is called an allegory. 



128 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

Most of the parables of the Bible are allegories. The 
story of the Prodigal Son really relates the experience 
of the Christian who, having lived a godless life, seeks 
God again in penitence. 

The Twenty-third Psalm is an allegory, or at least an 
extended metaphor. 

" The Lord is my shepherd ; I shall not want. 

" He maketh me to lie down in green pastures : he leadeth 
me beside the still waters. 

" He restoreth my soul : he leadeth me in the paths of right- 
eousness for his name's sake. 

" Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of 
death, I will fear no evil : for thou art with me ; thy rod and 
thy staff they comfort me. 

"Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine 
enemies : thou anointest my head with oil ; my cup runneth 
over. 

" Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days 
of my life : and I will dwell in the house of the Lord 
for ever." 

IV. Personification. — " Come, gentle Spring ! Ethe- 
real Mildness, come ! " In reading this, though we are 
aware that spring cannot appreciate the words ad- 
dressed to it by the poet, the likeness between the soft, 
mild breezes of May and the delicate touch of a tender 
hand, enables one to appreciate the poetic imagination 
which addresses spring as a human being. There is 
unquestioned power and beauty in the figure which 
suggests the approach of spring in the form of a gentle 
maiden ; and there is almost always a charm in the 
discovery of a likeness between personal and imper- 
sonal objects. 



FIGURES OF SPEECH. 1 29 

The figure of speech in which the attributes of human 
or other living beings are implied or directly given to 
objects which do not actually possess such attributes is 
called personification. 

This figure may be deliberately used by addressing 
inanimate objects as if alive, or personification may slip 
into one's writing almost imperceptibly by the use of a 
part of speech not literally applicable to the object to 
which it refers ; as, — 

" O Death, where is thy sting? 
O Grave, where is thy victory? " 

" How wonderful is Death! 
Death and his brother, Sleep! " 

or less deliberately, — 

The wanton winds, the playful breeze, the cruel waves, the howl- 
ing storm. 

" The sun at noon looked down and saw not one." 

EXAMPLES OF PERSONIFICATION. 

Point out the way in which personification is given to 
objects in the following examples : — 

A dry and thirsty land. 

Ambition's debt is paid. 

Love must cling where it can, I say. 

The beggar thinks no longer of his whining trade. 

Love took up the harp of life, and smote on all the chords 
with might. 

Ye glittering towns, with wealth and splendor crowned. 

O wandering graves ! O restless sleep ! 

O silence of the sunless day ! 
O still ravine ! O stormy deep ! 

Give up your prey ! Give up your prey I 
sch. eng. — 9 



130 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

When Freedom from her mountain height 

Unfurled her standard to the air, 
She tore the azure robe of night, 

And set the stars of glory there 

All night have the roses heard 
The flute, violin, and bassoon. 

And the sunlight clasps the earth, 
And the moonbeams kiss the sea. 

Mercy and truth are met together ; righteousness and peace 
have kissed each other. 



FIGURES BASED UPON ASSOCIATION. 

I. Metonymy. — " A watched pot never boils ; " nor 
will any pot boil, though the water in it may. It is not, 
however, incorrect to speak of a boiling kettle, or to say 
that the pulpits of the city are conducting a crusade 
against vice. The meaning is as clear as if we had 
named the water in the kettle, or the ministers of the 
city. For an object named may suggest another — 

(a) If the two objects are generally seen together. 

Ex. Excellent table for excellent food. 
{b) If one contains the other. 

Ex. Long purse for plenty of money. 

(c) If one is the cause or the effect of the other. 

Ex. The sweat of the brow/<?r hard work. 

(d) If one is the material out of which the other is 
made. 

Ex. A collection of bronzes for a collection of bronze statuary. 



FIGURES OF SPEECH. 131 

(e) If one is used as a sign to denote the other. 
Ex. Winning laurels for winning victory. 

(/) If one is an abstract quality of the other. 

Ex. Marrying wealth for marrying a rich man or woman. 

The figure of speech which suggests an idea by men- 
tioning the name of an object associated with that idea is 
called metonymy. 

Students often confuse metonymy and metaphor, 
because the words begin with the same syllables, and 
because each figure calls objects by other than their 
own names. Metonymy and metaphor differ in that 
metaphor calls an object by the name of one that resem- 
bles it ; metonymy, by the name of one that is often 
associated with it without any idea of resemblance. 

Ex. The opinion of the press, means the opinion of the newspaper 
editors, not because of any resemblance, but because of the 
relation between the two ideas. 

Synechdoche is a special form of metonymy, and con- 
sists in denoting the part by the whole or the whole by 
any of its parts. 

Ex. A fleet of twenty masts (twenty ships). 
A wheel (a bicycle) . 
A force of fifty hands (fifty workmen) . 
A hundred head (a hundred cattle) . 

EXAMPLES OF METONYMY AND SYNECHDOCHE. 

Point out the words which suggest others, and explain how 
they suggest them : — 

A decision of the bench. Members of the bar. 
The pen is mightier than the sword. 



132 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

The sleep of the cradle. 

I have been reading Tennyson. 

The thrones of Europe are tottering. 

The tendency of the age. 

Man shall live by the sweat of his brow. 

Who devour widows' houses. 

This is a most excellent dish. 

He is bow oar in the University crew. 

He has a warm heart. 

He is a fine bowler and an excellent bat. 

Swift as an arrow flies the leaden death. 

His banner leads the spears no more amid the hills of Spain. 

In the Cross of Christ I glory. 

I turned to see the voice that spake with me. 

Beauty is easy enough to win, but one is not loved every day. 

A good man he was, and vigilant over his granddaughter's 
deportment in any case where young Oxford might be con- 
cerned. 

II. Apostrophe. — When Milton in his "Lycidas" 
asks, " Where were ye, nymphs, when the remorseless 
deep closed o'er the head of your loved Lycidas ? " the 
nymphs were present only in the imagination ; but 
addressing them as if present brings them more vividly 
before the reader's vision than would any other method 
of referring to them. 

The figure of speech in which the absent are addressed 
as if present, or the dead as if living, is called apostrophe. 

In addressing inanimate objects, apostrophe implies 
personification also. 



FIGURES OF SPEECH. 1 33 

EXAMPLES OF APOSTROPHE. 

O Death, where is thy sting? 
O Grave, where is thy victory ? 

Ye crags and peaks, I'm with you once again ! 

Awake, awake ; put on thy strength, O Zion. 

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets ! 

Woe unto thee, Chorazin ! woe unto thee, Bethsaida ! 

And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted to heaven, shalt be 
thrust down to hell. 

Thou hast taught me, Silent River, 

Many a lesson deep and long ; 
Thou hast been a generous giver ; 

I can give thee but a song. 

Sweet April ! Many a thought 

Is wedded unto thee, as hearts are wed. 

Yet once more, O ye laurels, and once more 
Ye myrtles brown, with ivy never sere. 

III. Hyperbole, — " And the Midianites, and the 
Amalekites, and all the children of the east, lay along 
the valley like grasshoppers for multitude ; and their 
camels were without number, as the sand by the sea- 
side for multitude. " Doubtless this is a true statement 
of the impression produced upon the terrified Israelite, 
as he looked down upon the host of Midian ; and with- 
out the exaggeration used in this statement, it would be 
difficult to impress us with the alarm felt at the time. 
It is a well-known fact that an object of extraordinary 
dimensions, either great or small, generally produces at 
first sight an impression that the object is greater or 



134 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

less than it is in reality. If, therefore, we wish to sug- 
gest to the reader the same impression as that which 
we had at first sight of some remarkable object, we 
must exaggerate or overstate the actual dimensions. 

An exaggerated expression which increases the vivid- 
ness of a statement without conveying a false impression 
is called hyperbole. 

EXAMPLES OF HYPERBOLE. 

All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. 

From the meadow your walks have left so sweet, 
That whenever the March-wind sighs, 

He sets the jewel-print of your feet 
In violets blue as your eyes. 

Behold he drinketh up a river and hasteth not. 

Weary lawyers with endless tongues. 

I began to think he was going on forever. 

I lov'd Ophelia : forty thousand brothers 
Could not with all their quantity of love 
Make up my sum. 

I could have half believed I heard the leaves and blossoms 
growing. 

FIGURES BASED UPON CONTRAST. 

I. Irony. — When the prophets of Baal in their con- 
test with Elijah were unsuccessfully calling upon their 
god to send down the fire from heaven, Elijah said to 
them, " Cry aloud : for he is a god ; either he is talking, 
or he is pursuing, or he is on a journey, or peradvent- 
ure he sleepeth, and must be awaked." In enumer- 
ating these actions of a living being and attributing 



FIGURES OF SPEECH. 1 35 

them to Baal, Elijah meant only to distress the prophets 
with the evident fact that Baal was a lifeless god. As 
was said in the opening of this chapter, it may often 
be more forcible to say the opposite of what we have in 
mind, and allow the evident falsity of our statement to 
suggest the truth, than to make a literal statement of 
what is meant. 

That method of statement in which the suggested mean- 
ing is contrary to the literal interpretation of the words 
used is known as irony. 

There is very little irony found in the Scriptures. 
One of the few examples is where Job replies to the 
tiresome advice of his friends : — 

" No doubt but ye are the people, and wisdom shall die 
with you." 

The editorials of the daily newspapers depend much 
upon irony for the criticism of party policy. 

EXAMPLES OF IRONY. 

[FROM ELIPHALET NOTT'S "ADDRESS ON THE DEATH OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON."] 

One man of honor by some inadvertence, or perhaps with 
some design, injures the sensibility of another man of honor. 
In perfect character the injured gentleman resents it. He 
challenges the offender. The offender accepts the challenge. 
The time is fixed. The place is agreed upon. The circum- 
stances, with an air of solemn mania, are arranged ; and the 
principals, with their seconds and surgeons, retire under the 
cover of some solitary hill, or upon the margin of some unfre- 
quented beach, to settle this important question of honor by 
stabbing or shooting at each other. One or the other, or both 
the parties, fall in this gentleman-like contest. 



136 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

It is true that he who falls in single combat has the honor 
of being murdered; and he who takes his life, the honor 
of being a murderer. Besides this, I know riot of any glory 
that can redound to the infatuated combatants, except it be 
what results from having extended the circle of wretched 
widows, and added to the number of hapless orphans. And 
yet, terminate as it will, this frantic meeting, by a kind of 
magic influence, entirely varnishes over a defective and smutty 
character ; transforms vice to virtue, cowardice to courage ; 
makes falsehood truth ; guilt, innocence, — in one word, 
gives a new complexion to the whole state of things. The 
Ethiopian changes his skin, the leopard his spots, and the 
debauched and treacherous, having shot away the infamy of a 
sorry life, comes back to the field of perfectibility, quite re- 
generated, and in the fullest sense an honorable man. He is 
now fit for the company of gentlemen. He is again admitted 
to that company, and should he again by acts of vileness stain 
this purity of character so nobly acquired, and should any one 
have the effrontery to say he has done so, again he stands ready 
to vindicate his honor, and by another act of homicide to wipe 
away the stain which has been attached to it. 

[from thackeray's " newcomes," chapter viii.] 

To push on in the crowd, every male or female struggler 
must use his or her shoulder. If a better place than yours 
presents itself just beyond your neighbor, elbow him and take 
it. Look how a steadily-purposed man or woman at court, at 
a ball, or exhibition, wherever there is a competition and a 
squeeze, gets the best place ; the nearest the sovereign, if bent 
on kissing the royal hand ; the closest to the grand stand, if 
minded to go to Ascot ; the best view and hearing of the Rev. 
Mr. Thumpington, when all the town is rushing to hear that 
exciting divine ; the largest quantity of ice, champagne, and 
seltzer, cold pate, or other his or her favorite flesh-pot, if 
gluttonously minded, at a supper whence hundreds of people 



FIGURES OF SPEECH. 1 37 

come empty away. A woman of the world will marry her 
daughter and have done with her, get her carriage, and be at 
home and asleep in bed ; whilst a timid mamma has still her girl 
in the nursery, or is beseeching the servants in the cloak-room 
to look for her shawls, with which some one else has whisked 
away an hour ago. What a man has to do in society is to assert 
himself. Is there a good place at table? Take it. At the 
Treasury or the Home Office ? Ask for it. Do you want to go 
to a party to which you are not invited? Ask to be asked. 
Ask A, ask B, ask Mrs. C, ask everybody you know : you will 
be thought a bore ; but you will have your way. What matters 
if you are considered obtrusive, provided that you obtrude? 
By pushing steadily, nine hundred and ninety-nine people in a 
thousand will yield to you. Only command persons, and you 
may be pretty sure that a good number will obey. How well 
your money will have been laid out, O gentle reader, who 
purchase this ; and taking the maxim to heart, follow it through 
life ! You may be sure of success. If your neighbor's foot 
obstructs you, stamp on it ; and do you suppose he won't 
take it away? 

II. Epigram. — The truth of the saying, " Beauty 
when unadorned, adorned the most," is made more 
striking by the apparent contradiction in terms, and 
by the brevity of the expression. 

A short sentence or phrase which suggests # tritth by 
an apparent contradiction is called an epigram. 

EXAMPLES OF EPIGRAM. 

The child is father of the man. 
The king is dead, long live the king. 
Failures are the pillars of success. 
When you have nothing to say, say it. 
Conspicuous for its absence. 



138 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

We could not see the woods for the trees. 
Verbosity is cured by a wide vocabulary. 
So many things are striking that nothing strikes. 
The easiest way of doing nothing is to do it. 
Language is the art of concealing thought. 
Summer has set in with its usual severity. 

MISCELLANEOUS EXAMPLES OF FIGURES. 

Name and explain any figure found in the appended extracts, 
and notice how the expression of thought is made clearer and 
more forcible than it could be by the use of literal expressions : — 

SHAKESPEARE. 
I. CARDINAL WOLSEY'S SOLILOQUY. 

Farewell ! a long farewell, to all my greatness ! 
This is the state of man : to-day he puts forth 
The tender leaves of hope ; to-morrow blossoms, 
And bears his blushing honors thick upon him ; 
The third day comes a frost, a killing frost, 
And when he thinks, good easy man, full surely 
His greatness is a-ripening, nips his root, 
And then he falls, as I do. I have ventured, 
Like little wanton boys that swim on bladders, 
This many summers in a sea of glory, 
But far beyond my depth : my high-blown pride 
At length broke under me, and now has left me, 
Weary and old with service, to the mercy 
Of a rude stream, that must forever hide me. 
Vain pomp and glory of this world, I hate ye : 
I feel my heart new openM. O, how wretched 
Is that poor man that hangs on princes 1 favors ! 
There is, betwixt that smile we would aspire to, 
That sweet aspect of princes and their ruin, 
More pangs and fears than wars or women have : 
And when he falls, he falls like Lucifer, 
Never to hope again. 



FIGURES OF SPEECH. 139 

II. WOLSEY'S FAREWELL TO CROMWELL. 

Thus far, hear me, Cromwell ; 

And, when I am forgotten, as I shall be, 

And sleep in dull cold marble, where no mention 

Of me more must be heard of, say, I taught thee, 

Say, Wolsey, that once trod the ways of glory, 

And sounded all the depths and shoals of honor, 

Found thee a way, out of his wreck, to rise in ; 

A sure and safe one, though thy master miss'd it. 

Mark but my fall, and that that ruined me. 

Cromwell, I charge thee, fling away ambition : 

By that sin fell the angels ; how can man, then, 

The image of his Maker, hope to win by it ? 

Love thyself last ; cherish those hearts that hate thee ; 

Corruption wins not more than honesty. 

Still in thy right hand carry gentle peace, 

To silence envious tongues. Be just, and fear not : 

Let all the ends thou aim'st at be thy country's , 

Thy God's, and truth's ; then, if thou fall'st, O Cromwell, 

Thou fall'st a blessed martyr. 

Serve the king ; and, — prithee, lead me in : 

There take an inventory of all I have, 

To the last penny ; 'tis the king's : my robe, 

And my integrity to heaven, is all 

I dare now call mine own. O Cromwell, Cromwell! 

Had I but served my God with half the zeal 

I served my king, he would not in mine age 

Have left me naked to mine enemies. 



GRAY. 

ELEGY 

WRITTEN IN A COUNTRY CHURCHYARD. 

The curfew tolls the knell of parting day, 
The lowing herd winds slowly o'er the lea, 

The plowman homeward plods his weary way, 
And leaves the world to darkness and to me. 



I40 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

Now fades the glimmering landscape on the sight, 
And all the air a solemn stillness holds, 

Save where the beetle wheels his droning flight, 
And drowsy tinklings lull the distant folds ; 

Save that, from yonder ivy-mantled tow'r, 
The moping owl does to the moon complain 

Of such as, wand'ring near her secret bow'r, 
Molest her ancient solitary reign. 

Beneath those rugged elms, that yew-tree's shade, 
Where heaves the turf in many a mold'ring heap, 

Each in his narrow cell forever laid, 

The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep. 

The breezy call of incense-breathing morn, 

The swallow twitt'ring from the straw-built shed, 

The cock's shrill clarion, or the echoing horn, 
No more shall rouse them from their lowly bed. 

For them no more the blazing hearth shall burn, 
Or busy housewife ply her evening care ; 

No children run to lisp their sire's return, 
Or climb his knees the envied kiss to share. 

Oft did the harvest to their sickle yield, 

Their furrow oft the stubborn glebe has broke : 

How jocund did they drive their team afield ! 

How bow'd the woods beneath their sturdy stroke ! 

Let not ambition mock their useful toil, 
Their homely joys, and destiny obscure ; 

Nor grandeur hear with a disdainful smile 
The short and simple annals of the poor. 

The boast of heraldry, the pomp of pow'r, 
And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave, 

Await alike th' inevitable hour : 

The paths of glory lead but to the grave, 




FIGURES OF SPEECH. 141 

Nor you, ye proud, impute to these the fault, 
If memory o'er their tomb no trophies raise, 

Where thro 1 the long-drawn isle and fretted vault 
The pealing anthem swells the note of praise. 

Can storied urn, or animated bust, 

Back to its mansion call the fleeting breath ? 

Can honor's voice provoke the silent dust, 
Or flattery soothe the dull cold ear of death ? 

Perhaps in this neglected spot is laid 

Some heart once pregnant with celestial fire ; 

Hands, that the rod of empire might have sway'd, 
Or wak'd to ecstasy the living lyre. 

But knowledge to their eyes her ample page 
Rich with the spoils of time did ne'er unroll ; 

Chill penury repress'd their noble rage, 
And froze the genial current of the soul. 

Full many a gem of purest ray serene 

The dark unfathom'd caves of ocean bear : 

Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, 
And waste its sweetness on the desert air. 

Some village-Hampden, that, with dauntless breast, 

The little tyrant of his fields withstood, 
Some mute inglorious Milton here may rest, 

Some Cromwell guiltless of his country's blood. 

Th' applause of list'ning senates to command, 

The threats of pain and ruin to despise, 
To scatter plenty o'er a smiling land, 

And read their hist'ry in a nation's eyes, 

Their lot forbade : nor circumscrib'd alone 

Their growing virtues, but their crimes confin'd ; 

Forbade to wade through slaughter to a throne, 
And shut the gates of mercy on mankind, 



142 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

The struggling pangs of conscious truth to hide, 
To quench the blushes of ingenuous shame, 

Or heap the shrine of luxury and pride 
With incense kindled at the Muse's flame. 

Far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife, 
Their sober wishes never learn'd to stray ; 

Along the cool sequester'd vale of life 

They kept the noiseless tenor of their way. 

Yet ev'n these bones from insult to protect 
Some frail memorial still erected nigh, 

With uncouth rhymes and shapeless sculpture deck'd, 
Implores the passing tribute of a sigh. 

Their name, their years, spelt by th' unletter'd Muse, 
The place of fame and elegy supply : 

And many a holy text around she strews, 
That teach the rustic moralist to die. 

For who, to dumb forgetfulness a prey, 
This pleasing anxious being e'er resign'd, 

Left the warm precincts of the cheerful day, 
Nor cast one longing ling'ring look behind ? 

On some fond breast the parting soul relies, 
Some pious drops the closing eye requires ; 

E'en from the tomb the voice of nature cries, 
E'en in our ashes live their wonted fires. 

For thee, who mindful of th' unhonor'd dead 
Dost in these lines their artless tale relate ; 

If chance, by lonely contemplation led, 
Some kindred spirit shall inquire thy fate, 

Haply some hoary-headed swain may say, 
" Oft have we seen him at the peep of dawn 

Brushing with hasty steps the dews away, 
To meet the sun upon the upland lawn. 



FIGURES OF SPEECH. 1 43 

" There at the foot of yonder nodding beech, 
That wreathes its old fantastic roots so high, 

His listless length at noontide would he stretch, 
And pore upon the brook that babbles by* 

" Hard by yon wood, now smiling as in scorn, 
MuttVing his wayward fancies he would rove ; 

Now drooping, woeful wan, like one forlorn, 
Or craz'd with care, or cross'd in hopeless love, 

" One morn I miss'd him on the custom'd hill, 

Along the heath and near his favVite tree ; 
Another came ; nor yet beside the rill, 

Nor up the lawn, nor at the wood was he : 

" The next, with dirges due in sad array 

Slow thro 1 the church-way path we saw him borne : — 
Approach and read (for thou canst read) the lay 

Grav'd on the stone beneath yon aged thorn." 



THE EPITAPH. 

Here rests his head upon the lap of earth, 
A youth to fortune and to fame unknown : 

Fair science frown'd not on his humble birth, 
And melancholy mark'd him for her own. 

Large was his bounty, and his soul sincere, 
Heav'n did a recompense as largely send : 

He gave to mis'ry (all he had) a tear, 

He gained from Heaven (Hwas all he wish'd) a friend. 

No farther seek his merits to disclose, 

Or draw his frailties from their dread abode, 

. (There they alike in trembling hope repose,) 
The bosom of his Father and his God. 



144 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 



COLLINS. 

THE PASSIONS. 

When Music, heav'nly maid, was young, 
While yet in early Greece she sung, 
The Passions oft, to hear her shell, 
Throng'd around her magic cell, 
Exulting, trembling, raging, fainting, 
Possest beyond the Muse's painting ; 
By turns they felt the glowing mind 
Disturbs, delighted, rais'd, refin'd ; 
Till once, 'tis said, when all were flr'd, 
Fill'd with fury, rapt, inspir'd, 
From the supporting myrtles round 
They snatch'd her instruments of sound ; 
And, as they oft had heard apart 
Sweet lessons of her forceful art, 
Each, for madness rul'd the hour, 
Would prove his own expressive power. 

First Fear his hand, its skill to try, 
Amid the chords bewilder'd laid, 

And back recoil'd, he knew not why, 
Ev'n at the sound himself had made. 

Next Anger rush'd ; his eyes, on fire, 
In lightnings own'd his secret stings ; 

In one rude clash he struck the lyre, 

And swept with hurried hand the strings. 

With woeful measures wan Despair, 
Low sullen sounds, his grief beguil'd, 

A solemn, strange, and mingled air ; 
'Twas sad by fits, by starts 'twas wild. 

But Thou, O Hope, with eyes so fair, 
What was thy delightful measure? 

Still it whisper'd promis'd pleasure, 

And bade the lovely scenes at distance hail! 



FIGURES OF SPEECH. 1 45 

Still would her touch the strain prolong, 
And from the rocks, the woods, the vale, 

She calFd on Echo still thro' all the song ; 
And, where her sweetest theme she chose, 
A soft responsive voice was heard at ev'ry close, 

And Hope enchanted smiFd, and wav'd her golden hair. 

And longer had she sung ; but, with a frown, 

Revenge impatient rose : 
He threw his blood-stain'd sword in thunder down, 
And with a withering look 
The war-denouncing trumpet took, 
And blew a blast so loud and dread, 
Were ne'er prophetic sounds so full of woe. 
And ever and anon he beat 
The doubling drum with furious heat ; 
And tho 1 sometimes, each dreary pause between, 
Dejected Pity at his side 
Her soul-subduing voice applied, 
Yet still he kept his wild unalter'd mien, 
While each strain'd ball of sight seem'd bursting from his head. 
Thy numbers, Jealousy, to naught were fix'd, 

Sad proof of thy distressful state ; 
Of dirPring themes the veering song was mix'd ; 

And now it courted love, now raving call'd on hate. 
With eyes uprais'd, as one inspir'd, 
Pale Melancholy sate retir'd, 
And from her wild sequester'd seat, 
In notes by distance made more sweet, 
Pour'd thro' the mellow horn her pensive soul ; 
And, dashing soft from rocks around, 
Bubbling runnels join'd the sound ; 
Thro' glades and glooms the mingled measure stole, 
Or o'er some haunted stream with fond delay, 
Round an holy calm diffusing, 
Love of peace and lonely musing, 
In hollow murmurs died away. 
But, O ! how alter'd was its sprightlier tone, 
When Cheerfulness, a nymph of healthiest hue, 

SCH. ENG. — IO 



146 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

Her bow across her shoulder flung, 

Her buskins gemm'd with morning dew, 
Blew an inspiring air, that dale and thicket rung, 

The hunter's call to faun and dryad known! 

The oak-crowned sisters and their chaste-eyed queen, 

Satyrs and silvan boys, were seen, 

Peeping from forth their alleys green ; 
Brown Exercise rejoic'd to hear, 

And Sport leapt up and seiz'd his beechen spear. 
Last came Joy's ecstatic trial : 
He, with viny crown advancing, 

First to the lively pipe his hand addrest, 
But soon he saw the brisk-awak'ning viol, 

Whose sweet entrancing voice he lov'd the best ; 
They would have thought, who heard the strain, 
They saw in Tempe's vale her native maids, 
Amidst the festal sounding shades, 
To some unwearied minstrel dancing, 

While, as his flying fingers kiss'd the strings, 

Love fram'd with Mirth a gay fantastic round ; 

Loose were her tresses seen, her zone unbound ; 

And he, amidst his frolic play, 
As if he would the charming air repay, 
Shook thousand odors from his dewy wings. 
O Music, sphere-descended maid, 
Friend of pleasure, wisdom's aid, 
Why, goddess, why to us deny'd 
Lay'st thou thy ancient lyre aside ? 
As in that lov'd Athenian bow'r, 
You learn'd an all-commanding pow'r, 
Thy mimic soul, O Nymph endear'd, 
Can well recall what then it heard. 
Where is thy native simple heart, 
Devote to virtue, fancy, art? 
Arise, as in that elder time, 
Warm, energic, chaste, sublime! 
Thy wonders, in that godlike age, 
Fill thy recording sister's page : 
'Tis said, and I believe the tale, 



FIGURES OF SPEECH. 1 47 

Thy humblest reed could more prevail, 
Had more of strength, diviner rage, 
Than all which charms this laggard age, 
Ev'n all at once together found 
Cecilia's mingled world of sound. 
O bid our vain endeavors cease, 
Revive the just designs of Greece ! 
Return in all thy simple state ! 
Confirm the tales her sons relate ! 



THE VISION OF MIRZA. 

[FROM THE " SPECTATOR."] 

When I was at Grand Cairo, I picked up several oriental 
manuscripts which I have still by me. Among others I met 
with one entitled "The Vision of Mirza," which I have read 
over with great pleasure, and which I have translated word 
for word as follows : — 

" On the fifth day of the moon, which according to the cus- 
tom of my forefathers I always keep holy, after having washed 
myself, and offered up my morning devotions, I ascended the 
high hills of Bagdat, in order to pass the rest of the day in 
meditation and prayer. As I was here airing myself on the 
tops of the mountains, I fell into a profound contemplation on 
the vanity of human life ; and passing from one thought 
to another, ' Surely,' said I, 'man is but a shadow, and life 
a dream.' Whilst I was thus musing, I cast my eyes towards 
the summit of a rock that was not far from me, where I discov- 
ered one in the habit of a shepherd, with a little musical instru- 
ment in his hand. As I looked upon him, he applied it to his 
lips, and began to play upon it. The sound of it was exceed- 
ing sweet, and wrought into a variety of tunes that were inex- 
pressibly melodious, and altogether different from anything I 
had ever heard. They put me in mind of those heavenly airs 
that are played to the departed souls of good men upon their 
first arrival in Paradise, to wear out the impressions of the last 



148 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

agonies, and qualify them for the pleasures of that happy place. 
My heart melted away in secret raptures. 

" I had been often told that the rock before me was the 
haunt of a genius ; and that several had been entertained with 
music who had passed by it, but never heard that the musician 
had before made himself visible. When he had raised my 
thoughts by those transporting airs which he played, to taste 
the pleasures of his conversation, as I looked upon him like one 
astonished, he beckoned to me, and by the waving of his hand 
directed me to approach the place where he sat. I drew near 
with that reverence which is due to a superior nature ; and as 
my heart was entirely subdued by the captivating strains I had 
heard, I fell down at his feet and wept. The genius smiled 
upon me with a look of compassion and affability that familiar- 
ized him to my imagination, and at once dispelled all the fears 
and apprehensions with which I approached him. He lifted 
me from the ground, and taking me by the hand, ' Mirza,' said 
he, ' I have heard thee in thy soliloquies ; follow me.' 

" He then led me to the highest pinnacle of the rock, and 
placing me on the top of it, 'Cast thy eyes eastward,' said he, 
'and tell me what thou seest.' — ' I see,' said I, ' a huge valley, 
and a prodigious tide of water rolling through it.' — 'The valley 
that thou seest,' said he, ' is the Vale of Misery, and the tide of 
water that thou seest is part of the great tide of eternity.' — 
' What is the reason,' said I, ' that the tide I see rises out of a 
thick mist at one end, and again loses itself in a thick mist at 
the other?' — 'What thou seest,' said he, 'is that portion of 
eternity which is called time, measured out by the sun, and 
reaching from the beginning of the world to its consummation. 
Examine now,' said he, 'this sea that is thus bounded with 
darkness at both ends, and tell me what thou discoverest in it.' 
— ' I see a bridge,' said I, ' standing in the midst of the tide.' 
— ' The bridge thou seest,' said he, ' is human life ; consider it 
attentively.' Upon a more leisurely survey of it, I found it 
consisted of threescore and ten entire arches, with several 



FIGURES OF SPEECH. 



149 



broken arches, which added to those that were entire, made up 
the number about an hundred. As I was counting the arches, 
the genius told me that this bridge consisted at first of a thou- 
sand arches ; but that a great flood swept away the rest, and 
left the bridge in the ruinous condition I now beheld it. 

I But tell me farther,' said he, * what thou discoverest on it.' — 

I I see multitudes of people passing over it,' said I, ' and a 
black cloud hanging on each end of it.' As I looked more 
attentively, I saw several of the passengers dropping through 
the bridge into the great tide that flowed underneath it, and 
upon farther examination, perceived there were innumerable 
trapdoors that lay 'concealed in the bridge, which the passen- 
gers no sooner trod upon, but they fell through them into the 
tide, and immediately disappeared. These hidden pitfalls 
were set very thick at the entrance of the bridge, so that 
throngs of people no sooner broke through the cloud, but 
many of them fell into them. They grew thinner towards the 
middle, but multiplied and lay closer together towards the end 
of the arches that were entire. 

" There were indeed some persons — but their number was 
very small — that continued a kind of hobbling march on the 
broken arches, but fell through one after another, being quite 
tired and spent with so long a walk. 

" I passed some time in the contemplation of this wonderful 
structure, and the great variety of objects which it presented. 
My heart was filled with a deep melancholy to see several drop- 
ping unexpectedly in the midst of mirth and jollity, and catch- 
ing at everything that stood by them to save themselves. Some 
were looking up towards the heavens in a thoughtful posture, 
and in the midst of a speculation stumbled and fell out of sight. 
Multitudes were very busy in the pursuit of bubbles that glit- 
tered in their eyes and danced before them ; but often when 
they thought themselves within the reach of them, their footing 
failed and down they sunk. In this confusion of objects, I 
observed some with scimiters in their hands, who ran to and fro 



150 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

upon the bridge, thrusting several persons on trapdoors which 
did not seem to lie in their way, and which they might have 
escaped had they not been thus forced upon them. 

" The genius, seeing me indulge myself on this melancholy 
prospect, told me I had dwelt long enough upon it. 'Take 
thine eyes off the bridge/ said he, ' and tell me if thou yet 
seest anything thou dost not comprehend. ' Upon looking up, 
1 What mean/ said I, t those great flights of birds that are per- 
petually hovering about the bridge, and settling upon it from 
time to time ? I see vultures, harpies, ravens, cormorants, and 
among many other feathered creatures several little winged 
boys, that perch in great numbers upon the middle arches.' — 
'These/ said the genius, 'are Envy, Avarice, Superstition, 
Despair, Love, with the like cares and passions that infect 
human life.' 

" I here fetched a deep sigh. ' Alas/ said I, ' man was made 
in vain ! how is he given away to misery and mortality ! tortured 
in life, and swallowed up in death ! ' The genius being moved 
with compassion towards me, bid me quit so uncomfortable a 
prospect. ' Look no more/ said he, ' on man in the first stage 
of his existence, in his setting out for eternity ; but cast thine 
eye on that thick mist into which the tide bears several genera- 
tions of mortals that fall into it.' I directed my sight as I was 
ordered, and (whether or no the good genius strengthened it 
with any supernatural force, or dissipated part of the mist that 
was before too thick for the eye to penetrate) I saw the valley 
opening at the farther end, and spreading forth into an immense 
ocean, that had a huge rock of adamant running through the 
midst of it, and dividing it into two equal parts. The clouds 
still rested on one half of it, insomuch that I could discover 
nothing in it : but the other appeared to me a vast ocean 
planted with innumerable islands, that were covered with fruit 
and flowers, and interwoven with a thousand little shining seas 
that ran among them. I could see persons dressed in glorious 
habits with garlands upon their heads, passing among the trees, 



FIGURES OF SPEECH. 151 

lying down by the sides of fountains, or resting on beds of 
flowers ; and could hear a confused harmony of singing birds, 
falling waters, human voices, and musical instruments. Glad- 
ness grew in me upon the discovery of so delightful a scene. 
I wished for the wings of an eagle, that I might fly away to 
those happy seats ; but the genius told me there was no passage 
to them, except through the gates of death, that I s|aw opening 
every moment upon the bridge. ' The islands/ said he, t that 
lie so fresh and green before thee, and with which the whole 
face of the ocean appears spotted as far as thou canst see, are 
more in number than the sands on the seashore ; there are 
f myriads of islands behind those which thou here discoverest, 
reaching farther than thine eye, or even thine imagination, can 
extend itself. These are the mansions of good men after death, 
who, according to the degree and kinds of virtue in which they 
excelled, are distributed among these several islands, which 
abound with pleasures of different kinds and degrees, suitable 
to the relishes and perfections of those who are settled in them ; 
every island is a Paradise accommodated to its respective 
inhabitants. Are not these, O Mirza, habitations worth con- 
tending for? Does not life appear miserable, that gives thee 
opportunities of earning such a reward ? Is death to be feared, 
that will convey thee to so happy an existence? Think not 
man was made in vain, who has such an eternity reserved for 
him.' I gazed with inexpressible pleasure on these happy 
islands. At length, said I, ' Show me now, I beseech thee, the 
secrets that lie hid under those dark clouds which cover the 
ocean on the other side of the rock of adamant.' The genius 
making me no answer, I turned me about to address myself to 
him a second time, but I found that he had left me ; I then 
turned again to the vision which I had been so long contem- 
plating : but instead of the rolling tide, the arched bridge, and 
the happy islands, I saw nothing but the long hollow valley of 
Bagdat, with oxen, sheep, and camels grazing upon the sides 
of it. ,, 



CHAPTER VI. 
ERRORS IN THE USE OF FIGURES. 

Originality Essential. — Figures have been defined 
and illustrated, not with a view to giving the student 
something new to put into his writing ; for the charm of 
any production would be entirely lost, if the writer* 
should feel that having just finished a chapter on figures 
of speech, he must keep on the lookout for a chance 
to put in a simile, or ask himself what would be a good 
metaphor for this thought, or how this idea could be 
best personified. Originality and spontaneity are abso- 
lutely necessary to happy expression, and no author 
could inform us how he found his bright ideas, or by 
what rule he constructed the lines which have since 
become familiar quotations to us all. 

But genius must receive its inspiration from some 
source ; and it is possible that reading and reflecting 
upon the examples and selections given may awaken in 
the mind of some pupils the power needing only to be 
aroused and guided. 

Figures as Stumbling-blocks. — Few men have written 
well when very young. Shakespeare became the wonder 
of all ages after years of writing, so aptly named the 
" workshop period." The youthful work of most poets 
is valuable mainly for completing the collections of their 
poems. Figurative language has been a stumbling- 
block for all grades of genius. Eminent critics have 

152 



ERRORS IN THE USE OF FIGURES. 153 

shown this to be true even with the princes of song ; 
and when the schoolboy, consciously or unconsciously, 
begins to put his thoughts in pictured phrase, in lifting 
his eyes toward the sky for inspiration, he takes them 
from the stony road, and is thus too often overturned. 

Errors in the use of figures are frequently found in 
the work of promising scholars ; for it takes boldness for 
a boy to give his imagination any play at all. It would 
be a great wrong to ridicule any genuine outburst of 
youthful enthusiasm, and therefore careful criticism and 
guidance are necessary here. 

Errors Classified. — One pupil is prone to pick up 
and weave into his writing all the old hackneyed fig- 
ures he can find; another pupil will mix his figurative 
expressions so they can with difficulty be understood ; 
another will think that he is doing well, if only he can 
put his words in high-sounding flowery phrase, without 
regard to its fitness for the expression of his meager 
thoughts. 

But where a figure fails to suggest the thought as 
well as the literal expression would state it, the figure 
does not accomplish the purpose for which it was 
intended, and hence is useless ; for not only is no force 
gained, but clearness also is lost. 

Errors of this sort can be definitely pointed out, and 
suggestions can be given for their correction, only after 
the pupil has learned the names and definitions of the 
various figures which it is possible to use or misuse. 
We shall now classify the faults most frequently made 
in the use of figures. 

I. When the relation between the words used and the 
thought to be suggested is too remote or obscure, the 



154 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

figure fails to add clearness or force, and is consequently 

useless, 

Ex. " From harmony, from heav'nly harmony 
This universal frame began ; 
From harmony to harmony 
Through all the compass of the notes it ran, 
The diapason closing full in Man." 

Dryden doubtless expresses a valuable thought in the 
last lines of the foregoing extract ; but does the meta- 
phor employed add clearness or force ? 

The following is from a college periodical : — 

" Still in my youth my love was torn away. 

O broken lute ! O shattered glass of wine ! 
They gave her to a husband worthier far 

Of her enchantment ; I was bound to clay, 
But re-inspired by her, his soul divine, 

Touched the hot orbit of my worshiped star.'" 

A well-known clergyman of New York prayed as 

follows : — 

" O Lord, we cannot put our finger into the print of the nails ; 
but thou dost ever put thy finger into the folds of our hearts." 

Just what did he mean ? 

II. Metaphors lose their pozver of suggesting thoughts 
when several are mixed in the one sentence, when one is 
used within another, or where they are carried into 
minute detail. 

The commonest example of mixed metaphor is 
Shakespeare's line, — 

"Or to take arms against a sea of trouble." 

Though the line occurs in one of the best of Shake- 
spearean paragraphs, it certainly seems incongruous to 
speak of taking arms against a sea. 



ERRORS IN THE USE OF FIGURES. 1 55 

EXAMPLES. 

I bridle in my struggling muse with pain, 
That longs to launch out into bolder strain. 

Mr. Harter's scheme of national and state banking in a sort 
of financial wedlock, I fear, will be a Pandora's box. 

And now some light on the real character of Lord Mohun 
begins to crop out. 

Hope, the balm of life, darts a ray of light into the thick 
gloom. 

He never opened his mouth but to put his foot in it. 

He was unable to steer his ship over the rough road of public 
sentiment. 

III. Certain very expressive figures, chiefly metaphors, 
have been used so much that they have become worn out, 
or trite. It is well to avoid the use of these, for they 
no longer have the charm of freshness or originality. 

Examples of such figures are : — 
Narrow bed for grave. 
Lily white hand, ruby lips, ivory brow. 
The flower of youth. 
The journey of life. 
The springtime of life. 
Honeyed lips. 
Brave as a lion. 
Cunning as a fox. 
Last resting place. 
Dewy eve. 

Blue vaulted heavens. 
The golden orb of day. 



156 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

IV. The warning most necessary here is against tin 
use of figures too expressive for the thought and the con 
sequent ridiculous impression produced. 

EXAMPLES. 

I. 

ANN ARBOR. 

Enthroned upon fair hills the city sips 
From Huron's breath, or Michigan's dew brewed, 
Ambrosial draughts. Nor giant oak nor elm 
Bedims her view. Below, ambitious shoots 
A generation new, their stripling forms 
Admire, vainglorious, in the murky sheen 
The river mirrors, from its slothful breast. 

II. 

CASCADE GLEN. 

The aromatic breath of nature fills 
These avenues, whose shafts, leaf-capitoled, 
Re-echo shout and gladsome song, or chant 
The Memnon anthem of the day. Here is 
The laboratory of the Universe. 
Here, heaven her alchemy unfolds. The rill 
In cascade leaping, rainbows every beam 
Of straggling day, its wild ambition drowns 
In mimic dance and eddying whirl across 
- The bosom of the stream below, then drones 
To list the willows gossip a romance. 

The following extract from the New York "Sun" 
shows that even with George Washington for a theme, 
extravagant figures may produce a ridiculous impres- 
sion : — 



ERRORS IN THE USE OF FIGURES. 1 57 

Of all the eloquence that fell from the lips of speakers yester- 
day, there was none other to compare with that of the President 
of this Club. 

" Gentlemen : — It has been said that when two or three men 
gather together in the name of the Lord, the Lord is in their 
midst. We have met to-night to celebrate one of the most im- 
portant events that ever constituted an epoch in the annals of 
history — the birthday of Washington." 

Then Mr. P. went on: "Col. Ingersoll, in his recent great 
speech on Lincoln, said : ' Washington is now only a steel 
engraving/ but I, for one, think he is something more. 

" He speaks to us from the canvas ; he lives in monumental 
brass and marble ; his memory is enshrined in millions of warm 
and patriotic hearts ; and up from our cloud-capped hills and 
sunny vales shall ever arise the swelling anthem of praise of him 
who gave to his country more of Fame's immortal dower than 
any king, conqueror, or emperor that ever walked God's broad 
earth or bore the honors that stalked upon it. 

" True, he did not, like the God-like Webster and eloquent 
Clay, the applause of listening Senates command, nor, like the 
great astronomer, read the beautiful and blazing mystery of the 
stars, nor yet, like Franklin, call down the red lightning from its 
far-off home, that it might become the swift-winged messenger 
of thought, but in the broader and higher atmosphere of 
patriotism and freedom he won a corona of fame brighter than 
any that ever glittered in the crowns of Assyrian kings, or 
blazed on the breastplate of old Aaron." 

Mr. P. concluded his speech like this : " Let us then, my 
friends, cherish the remembrance of Washington, and wear 
him in our heart of hearts, for ages may pass away ere the world 
will look upon his like again. . . . Flow on, dark rolling Poto- 
mac, and sing the praises of the hero who sleeps upon your 
banks ' a sleep that knows no waking.' Ye zephyrs of morning 
that once kissed the manly brow of Washington, whisper in 
each listening ear his name, and ye blithe birds whose wild 



158 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

notes chimed with the ripple of the wavelets and floated on the 
morning air, chant ye a requiem sad and sweet for the departed 
soldier, patriot, and statesman.' ' 

There was a burst of applause when this speech ended. 
Mr. P. bowed modestly and sat down. Several of the mem- 
bers of the club came forward and congratulated him. 



Part II. 

COMPOSITION. 

CHAPTER I. 
PRELIMINARY SUGGESTIONS. 

Difficulties. — Part I. of this book has for its almost 
exclusive aim the correction of errors in the pupil's 
written work, and the improvement of his style. It has 
been assumed, for the purpose of criticism, that the 
matter has already been produced. Nothing has been 
said with a view to helping the pupil put his thoughts 
into writing. Therefore, though the foregoing pages 
have been carefully studied, though all the rules have 
been committed to memory, and even though skill has 
been acquired in applying them in criticism, unless the 
pupil possesses a natural gift for composition, the 
knowledge thus far acquired will be useful only in criti- 
cising the work of others. As school pupils find diffi- 
culties in composition, and have many false ideas with 
reference to it, some instruction is necessary to over- 
come the difficulties and correct these ideas. Accord- 
ingly Part II. furnishes suggestions which it is hoped 
may prove useful in starting work of composition. 

Naturalness. — At the outset it will be well to correct 
an erroneous but common impression among young 

i59 



l6o SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

people, to the effect that they must have for writing a 
set of ideas and words quite different from those used 
in conversation. If the pupil starts off on this principle, 
he will find that the hitherto unused part of his brain 
refuses to work when suddenly called upon to furnish 
material. 

If one feels that he must write in a different way 
from that in which he talks, or upon thoughts which 
he never has except when taking up a pen, learning to 
write in his own tongue will be as difficult as learning to 
speak in a new language ; nor will he ever be happy in 
any composition work, until he learns that he should 
never approach it as if it were an extraordinary occu- 
pation which called for the exercise of a new set of 
faculties. 

On the contrary, the student should confine himself 
in all that he writes to simplicity and naturalness of 
expression, by recording with his pen what he would 
say if conversing upon the subject on which he is writ- 
ing. This, however, is not the mood in which most 
pupils begin to write ; and on account of the effort to 
produce a masterpiece of thought and expression, the 
flow of words so easy and unstudied in conversation 
congeals at the nib of the pen, and refuses to be trans- 
mitted to the page. 

Doubtless many young people have often experi- 
enced this sudden chill and paralysis of the powers 
of expression. But would this paralysis set in, if the 
writer felt that in tracing his words in ink, he were 
doing nothing more than talking with his pen ? This 
is exactly what is done in writing a letter ; for if the 
person to whom the letter is addressed were present, 
the message of the letter would have been delivered 



PRELIMINARY SUGGESTIONS. i6l 

verbally ; and for this reason letter writing is one of the 
best means for improvement in composition. 

Carefulness. — It will probably be necessary to caution 
most pupils against mistaking naturalness for careless^ 
ness. If one is naturally careless, his composition should 
be unnatural to the extent of carefulness in expression 
and penmanship. 

By insisting on carefulness of expression, we mean 
that all that has been learned in studying the chapters 
on " Correction of Errors and Clearness " should be put 
into practice in every exercise. No mistake in grammar 
should be allowed to pass uncorrected, and every sen- 
tence obscure in meaning or capable of double sig- 
nification should be made clear. Try to make sentences 
correct and clear as yon write them down; but if you fail 
to make them so at first, do not hesitate to alter them. 
Make the alteration as neatly as you can ; but if the cor- 
rection spoils the looks of the page, copy it. 

Spelling. — Correct spelling will come naturally to 
some ; to others, it will not. If one belongs to the latter 
class, he must work hard to make up for the deficiency, 
and cultivate a pride that will never allow a misspelled 
word to be found in his writing, no matter how much 
labor is necessary to avoid it. The ability to spell 
with accuracy can be acquired by all, through constant 
use of the dictionary. A poor speller should always 
have a dictionary at his side when writing ; and if he 
will refer to it for every word concerning the spelling of 
which he is not certain, a few years will place him on the 
same footing as his more gifted brother. 

Neatness. — Besides the cautions for accuracy of ex- 
pression and spelling, it will be well to add a few 
instructions as to neatness. Neatness in penmanship 

SCH. ENG. — 1 1 



1 62 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

also seems to be a natural gift. Some possess it, and 
will need no directions here. Others will find that 
neatness is the most difficult to -acquire of all virtues. 
For these a few suggestions will be beneficial. 

Ink is a difficult material to handle, and will cause 
much damage in the hands of the unskillful. It is best 
therefore to have a solid inkstand that cannot be easily- 
upset ; it should have a wide mouth, so that the penholder 
will not rub against the edge, and thus smear the fingers. 
For this reason never use a bottle for an inkstand. It 
may seem an insignificant matter to mention here, but 
it will save untold trouble if you always dip the pen but 
a little way into the ink, or with a motion of the wrist 
throw back the surplus into the inkstand. Nine tenths 
of the blots come from an over-full pen. The rest 
can be avoided by never attempting to write without 
plenty of good fresh blotting paper, by having ample 
room for one's writing paper and arm, and by keeping 
the desk free from loose scraps that may be pushed 
over the paper. 



CHAPTER II. 
LETTER WRITING. 

The Best Practice in Composition. — The practice of 
letter writing, as has already been said, is of great help 
toward securing the much-needed naturalness ; and it is 
true that in the world at large most improvement in the 
power of writing has come through this means. The 
freedom and unreserve which belong to this kind of 
composition, and the fact that what is written will be 
read by another, with interest and not with a criticising 
spirit, give to it a peculiar scope, and are well adapted 
to bring out the otherwise unused powers of the writer. 

Letters in Literature. — English literature abounds 
with instances in which familiar letters from friend to 
friend, or between kindred, meant only for a single reader 
or for a household circle, have been rescued from such 
obscurity and set in the full light which shines on the 
classic page. The letters of Horace Walpole, of which 
he says — at least of those to Sir Horace Mann — that 
they were written very carelessly by a young man and 
never intended for the public, are among the most in- 
structive and entertaining of the many instructive and 
entertaining books which exhibit to us the life of England 
during the last century. 

The private correspondence of Dr. Arnold and the 
inimitable letters of Dickens are familiar illustrations 
of the power and permanence of the most unstudied 

163 



1 64 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

efforts of the pen when it is directed by an impulse 
from the heart and the brain, in the service of friend- 
ship and affection. A bright, cheerful letter, in which 
the everyday scenes of home, or some festive commemo- 
ration, or marked event, or the experiences of school, or 
college, or travel, are set down in the fresh glow of the 
occasion which prompts it, is often stamped with the 
best traits of a true style. 

Voluntary Letters. — By letter writing we do not mean 
exercises written in class at the command of a teacher, 
and put in the form of a letter by addressing an imagi- 
nary person at the beginning, and implying affection or 
respect over your signature at the close. It will be just 
as hard to find ideas for such letters as for any other 
written exercise ; and though it may be necessary to 
assign letters to be written in class, in order to teach 
the pupil the correct form of a letter, and the proper 
method of arranging the various broken lines, these are 
not the letters to which we refer as the best means of 
developing a good style. The greatest benefit will come 
from those letters which one writes of his own free will, 
when the pen is taken in hand without the slightest 
effort of mind to find thoughts, but because the writer 
has a message to deliver to a person to whom he cannot 
speak. 

The advantage of voluntary letter writing lies in the 
fact that one can there, more than in any other exercise, 
make direct effort at improvement. The object of all 
study of rhetoric is to learn to express ideas in writing 
so that they can be readily understood by another. In 
a letter, the writer knows exactly what he wishes to say. 
When, therefore, one has written a real letter, he can, 
by criticising it, make a truer estimate of his ability to 



LETTER WRITING. 1 6$ 

express his ideas correctly, than he can by criticising an 
essay in which he is not so certain of what he wishes 
to say. 

DIRECTIONS FOR LETTER WRITING. 

I. Subject Matter. — As to what you should say in a 
letter, there can be but one sound direction : Say what 
you have in mind ; and do not try to lengthen out a let- 
ter by hunting for something more to write about. It is 
not necessary to begin with an apology or to add any 
excuse for closing. There are few exercises in writing 
more profitable than trying to express a given idea in 
as few words as possible. Short letters are blessings, 
afford as much opportunity for skill as longer letters 
do, and are proverbially the stumbling-blocks of the 
careless ; as the following example will show. 

A young Englishman, while at an inn on the Medi- 
terranean, received a note inviting him to accompany a 
gentleman on a trip to Rome. The answer to the note 
was as given below : — 

"The Honorable Mr. N. presents his compliments to Sir 
Wm. F., and as I am going to Rome, he will be very happy to 
take a seat in your carriage. ,, 

II. Form of a Letter. — It will be necessary to give 
specific directions as to the proper form in which the 
letter should be written. We have seen that the usage 
of educated people is the law of language : it is also the 
law of form in various kinds of writing and printing. 

A complete letter consists of seven parts, and edu- 
cated people generally follow the arrangement which 
experience has discovered to be the best for appearance 
and intelligibility. The seven parts are ; 



1 66 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

I. The Heading, which tells when and where the 

letter is written. 
II. The Address, which gives the name of the person 
to whom the letter is sent. 

III. The Salutation, or greeting, by which the mes- 

sage is prefaced. 

IV. The Letter Proper, or message. 

V. The Complimentary Close, or polite remarks at 

the close of the letter. 
VI. The Signature of the person writing the letter. 
VII. The Superscription, or direction, for the delivery 
of the letter. 

DIRECTIONS FOR ARRANGING THE PARTS OF A LETTER. 

The appearance of a letter depends not only on the 
writer's skill in penmanship, but also on the arrange- 
ment of its parts. It is therefore important that both 
skillful and unskillful penmen, especially the latter, 
should adhere strictly to an approved form, such as is 
given in the following directions. 

In all written work, the pupil should leave on the left 
side of the page a margin of uniform width. The first 
line of each paragraph should be indented one half inch 
from the margin. 

I. The Heading consists of the place and date, and 
should be written on the first line of the gaper, on the 
right-hand side. Commas should be placed between all 
the items, and periods after all abbreviations. If the 
heading is long, the place should be on one line and 
the date on the next, beginning still to the right of the 
beginning of the first line. When the paper is not 
ruled, the heading should be written about one inch 



LETTER WRITING. 1 67 

from the upper edge of the sheet, and should never be 
crowded or written in a cramped handwriting. 

II. The Address. — Leave one blank line between 
the heading and the address. Beginning on the margin, 
write the name of the person addressed with the proper 
title ; on the next line, beginning a little to the right of 
the margin, the number, street, town, and state. Use 
two lines for these items, if necessary, to avoid crowd- 
ing. The second line should begin twice as far from the 
margin as the line above. With large cities the state 
may be omitted. Commas should be placed between 
all items, and periods after all abbreviations. All 
words in the name or title of any person, and all names 
of places, should begin with capitals. 

In letters of friendship the address may be placed 
before the salutation, in accordance with the direction 
given, or on the second line below the signature, com- 
mencing at the margin. 

III. The Salutation.- — On the next line, beginning 
at the margin, write the salutation. After the saluta- 
tion put a colon. If the letter is begun on the same 
line, put a comma and dash. In addressing a friend 
or relative, use any term of endearment that you wish. 
In addressing a stranger, the common salutation is 
Dear Sir or My dear Sir; or in case of a woman, mar- 
ried or single, Dear Madam or My dear Madam. For 
more than one person, Gentlemen is more frequently 
used than Dear Sirs. In addressing women, use Ladies. 

IV. The Letter may begin on the same line as the 
salutation, or on the next line directly beneath the colon. 
If three lines have been used for the address, the letter 
should begin on the same line as the salutation, to avoid 
too many broken lines. 



1 68 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

V. The Complimentary Close should be written on 
the next line after the end of the letter, should begin 
considerably to the right of the page, and, unless 
crowded by so doing, under the last word of the line 
above. The first word should begin with a capital; 
and the last word should be followed by a comma. 
Yours truly or Yours very truly is the ordinary polite 
ending to a business letter. Yours faithfully or Yours 
sincerely is used where there is acquaintance or friend- 
ship between the person writing and the one addressed. 
Respectfully is used where the writer acknowledges 
authority in the one to whom he is writing. Affection- 
ately, and other terms of endearment, should be used 
only when relationship or friendship warrants them. 
It is immaterial whether you write Yours very truly or 
Very truly yours, or Yours sincerely or Sincerely yours, 
etc. The complimentary close may be turned into a 
sentence by placing before it, / remain, I am, or other 
words ; as, I remain, my dear Sir, with respect, Yours 
very truly. 

VI. The Signature should be written on the line 
below the complimentary close, beginning to the right 
of the beginning of the line above. The signature 
should be followed by a period. 

VII. The Superscription, or Direction, is written on 
the outside of the envelope. The name and title should 
be in the middle of the envelope. The number, street, 
town, county, state, country, and all other matter neces- 
sary to carry the letter to its destination, should be 
divided into appropriate lines, and written below the 
name, each line beginning a little to the right of the 
beginning of the line above. Commas should be put 
between all items, and periods after all abbreviations, 



LETTER WRITING. 1 69 

Punctuation and Capitals. — There are no special 
rules in letter writing for punctuation or capitals. 
In all writing, commas are put wherever a word is 
omitted, and between words in the same construction 
not connected by conjunctions, and periods always fol- 
low abbreviations. The first word of every sentence, 
the first word of every line indented from the margin, 
and every word standing for a proper name or title, 
should in all forms of writing begin with capital letters. 
One of the most frequent errors in letter writing con- 
sists in using capitals when there is no reason for such 
use ; as, My Dear Sir, Very Truly Yours, for My dear 
Sir, Very truly yours. 

When unruled paper is used, double the ordinary 
space should be left where the foregoing directions call 
for blank lines. 

Practical Value. — Letter writing has been placed 
first in the list of exercises because it is the best means 
for securing natural expression of thought; but it is also 
true that letter writing is in itself an important end to 
be kept in view in the study of rhetoric. The majority 
of those that study this book will make use of what they 
learn from it chiefly in writing letters. Essays and 
compositions will be left behind with school and college ; 
but every one engaged in the practical affairs of life 
must be continually writing letters. Moreover, the 
ability to write a clear, well-expressed letter has a 
high market value in the business world, and saves 
time and energy for every one concerned; but the 
delay caused by a poorly written or obscurely expressed 
letter will in many cases result to the detriment of the 
writer, 



170 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

EXAMPLES OF COMPLETE LETTER. 

(i) 

Tft&awua,. A (LppUtoro If &>., 

<pb&&& two AaaMscL^cI {20(f) &(yplz& of 
ftcui/nJos " SncjLvQJh (Qomfbofrltiovo amxi 

yowub tA/ulaf, 

(Z. 771. bavifc. 

(2) 

zA&w> Ifo-vk, fwn& 7, '9 1 /-. 

771 j dbdh tfvu, — J Tvcuv-b i&&&iv-&d ycywv 
v&pty to my fcyvm&v t&tt&v, cinci (av a&- 
&oicla/yb&& wi/Uv jou^v / b&au<zat w-iLL &alt 
ovu yow ta-wvovum. 

^(ittAfwttnf yovbw>, 

of. (§,. baAAsOW; 



LETTER WRITING. 



171 



EXAMPLES OF DIRECTION. 



771&Q,Q,1&>. 


A d^telan V &*., 




3 Bond tft. , 




c/t&w llo-vfc, 




df.y. 



j/a / m<&Qs of. ffivo-wvi, €&a. , 
oJv&ntayi, 



AW. /{. y. tfaUXA, AA, 

Rlv-&vcLa,t&, 



172 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

Important Caution. — The estimation in which a per- 
son is held in the community in which he lives depends 
very largely on the letters he writes, more so, perhaps, 
than on what he says ; for the exact words of a con- 
versation are difficult to recall, and a cautious person 
hesitates to form an opinion from the quotation of a 
conversation ; but the words of a letter stand exactly as 
they are written, and challenge criticism. Flaws can be 
picked in them at leisure. Remember that what you 
write in a letter may be read by those who you never 
expected would see it, and that whatever you say in a 
letter cannot be easily taken back. It is wise to avoid 
rash statements even when writing to the closest friends. 
Business men find it necessary to preserve a copy of 
every important letter, in order that the next letter may 
be written in the light of what has been said, and in 
order that there may be no alteration by dishonest 
persons. Even though one is not in business, it will be 
wise for him to keep a copy of every letter that he con- 
siders of serious interest to himself. All these cautions 
are suggested by the Latin sentence, Littera scripta 
rnanet (the written letter remains). 

In view of the importance of letter writing in every 
branch of life, and on account of the opportunity af- 
forded for improvement in writing, you are urged to 
put into practice in every letter that you write all that 
you have learned from this chapter. 

The following letter is taken from Trevelyan's " Life 
of Lord Macaulay." 

We can excuse Macaulay's abuse of mathematics on 
account of the entertaining way in which he expresses it. 
He afterwards regretted his lack of mathematical power, 



LETTER WRITING. 1 73 

Cambridge, 
Wednesday, , 181 8. 

My dear Mother : King, I am absolutely certain, would take 
no more pupils on any account. And, even if he would, he has 
numerous applicants with prior claims. He has already six, 
who occupy him six hours in the day, and is likewise lecturer 
to the college. It would, however, be very easy to obtain an 
excellent tutor. Lefevre and Malkin are men of first-rate 
mathematical ability, and both of our college. 

I can scarcely bear to write on mathematics or mathemati- 
cians. Oh for words to express my abomination of that science, 
if a name sacred to the useful and embellishing arts may be 
applied to the perception and recollection of certain properties 
in numbers and figures ! Oh that I had to learn astrology, or 
demonology, or school divinity ; oh that I were to pore over 
Thomas Aquinas, and to adjust the relation of Entity with the 
two Predicaments, so that I were exempted from this miserable 
study ! " Discipline " of the mind ! Say rather starvation, 
confinement, torture, annihilation ! But it must be. I feel 
myself becoming a personification of algebra, a living trigono- 
metrical canon, a walking table of logarithms. All my percep- 
tions of elegance and beauty gone, or at least going. By the 
end of the term my brain will be " as dry as the remainder 
biscuit after a voyage." Oh to change Cam for Isis ! But such 
is my destiny ; and, since it is so, be the pursuit contemptible, 
below contempt, or disgusting beyond abhorrence, I shall aim 
at no second place. But three years ! I cannot endure the 
thought. I cannot bear to contemplate what I must have to 
undergo. Farewell, then, Homer and Sophocles and Cicero. 

"Farewell, happy fields, 
Where joy forever reigns ! Hail, horrors, hail, 
Infernal world ! " 

How does it proceed? Milton's descriptions have been driven 
out of my head by such elegant expressions as the following : 



174 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

Cos. x= i — - — h 



2 I-2-3-4 I.2.3.4.5.6 

Tan. T+b = Tan, a + Tan.* . 
1 — Tan. a + Tan. b 

My classics must be Woodhouse, and my amusements summing 
an infinite series. Farewell ; and tell Selina and Jane to be 
thankful that it is not a necessary part of female education to 
get a headache daily without acquiring one practical truth or 
beautiful image in return. Again, and with affectionate love 
to my father, farewell wishes your most miserable and mathe- 
matical son, 

T. B. Macaulay. 



CHAPTER III. 

EXERCISES FROM EXTRACTS. 

Composition generally Distasteful. — It is probable 
that many pupils from every class will appreciate the 
assistance they have received from instruction on letter 
writing, that they will note the improvement in their 
letters, and that they will take intense satisfaction in 
the consciousness of having learned something of value 
in the practical affairs of life. However, the problem 
of writing an essay is still unsolved ; and it is true that 
the composition has often been made a bugbear, haunt- 
ing the pupil's life whenever the thought is suggested 
or the name mentioned. If one could hear all the com- 
plaints made at home, and read all the thoughts of a 
class from which an essay is due, he would be sorely 
tempted to agree with the pupil's views, that composi- 
tions do more harm than good, by destroying the temper 
and worrying the life of well-meaning boys and girls. 

Essay Writing Necessary. — Fortunately or unfortu- 
nately, it is quite impossible to do away with essays and 
compositions ; for ability in writing can be secured only 
by constant practice. The few letters that a boy or 
girl has to write in the course of a week or month do 
not furnish a significant fraction of the practice neces- 
sary to gain proficiency ; and one quickly wearies of 
writing letters to imaginary persons, or on make-believe 
occasions. The teacher, therefore, cannot do away with 
the aid of composition exercises ; but some way must 

i75 



176 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

be found for removing the difficulties that often beset 
the pupil's path in this line of work ; and with that 
end in view, let us analyze the complaints most com- 
monly heard, get at the real difficulties, and, if possible, 
overcome them. 

Common Complaints. — If members of the class are 
left to choose their own subject, the majority will at 
once complain that they are unable to find anything to 
write about. If the subject is chosen for them, the 
general complaint is that they have nothing to say on 
that subject. Under all circumstances there will be 
found some who maintain that they " never could write 
a composition, anyway," and that they " don't see the 
use in it," because they have nothing worth saying. 

Complaints Analyzed and Answered. — Now we have 
already learned that the usefulness of composition exer- 
cises lies in the practice in writing which they afford, 
such practice being absolutely necessary for attaining 
proficiency in writing, and proficiency in writing being 
the foremost requisite of an education. 

In reviewing the complaints just enumerated, it is 
clear that the main difficulties of composition lie not so 
much in the pupil's inability to put his thoughts in 
writing, as in the absence of suitable thoughts. What 
man or woman, even though possessing great genius as 
an author, could write anything worth reading on a sub- 
ject in which he had little interest, and on which he 
had meager information ? Arouse in any intelligent 
youth a keen interest in a topic within his mental grasp, 
show him where to find information on that topic, fill 
his mind with ideas, so that he is able to converse with 
intelligence on the subject, and if he can handle a pen 
and spell, he will be able to write an intelligent compo- 



EXERCISES FROM EXTRACTS. 1 77 

sition. In other words, nine tenths of the difficulties 
lie in the pupil's mistaken idea that he can write on 
a subject before he has secured any information on that 
subject, or that he must start to write his thoughts on 
paper before he has any thoughts in his mind. 

Thoughts, then, being the first requisite in essay writ- 
ing, we must first of all study the various methods of 
furnishing ourselves with ideas. 

I. REPRODUCTION. 

Method Explained. — The simplest method of secur- 
ing ideas for an exercise in composition is to take a 
short extract from the writings of another, read it over 
until we have become familiar with the subject matter, 
and then try to reproduce in writing the thoughts of 
the original passage. It is necessary to become suffi- 
ciently familiar with the extract to retain a clear impres- 
sion of the thoughts expressed ; but, of course, if the 
matter is learned by heart, the exercise of writing is 
simply one in spelling and penmanship. In order to 
remember the matter without committing sentences to 
memory, it is well to read a short passage over but a 
single time, or longer passages two or three times, mak- 
ing brief notes that will suggest each paragraph with- 
out giving its exact words. 

Advantages from Exercises in Reproduction. — The 
advantages of exercises in reproduction are to be seen 
at a glance. In the first place, the student starts his 
work at once, knowing exactly what to do ; and besides 
having thoughts in his mind, he has in his memory the 
sound of well-formed sentences and well-chosen words. 
If an occasional phrase or sentence is remembered 

SCH. ENG. — 12 



178 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

word for word, writing this and weaving it in with other 
sentences of his own making will improve the quality 
of his writing ; and he will, thus, unconsciously set a 
higher standard for his own work. This method of 
learning to write has been of great use to many 
students ; and it is of especial interest to American 
boys to know that Benjamin Franklin, whose success 
in many branches of life was due to indomitable perse- 
verance, acquired his proficiency in writing by the use 
of this method, which is described in the following 
extract from his " Autobiography. " 

After relating the circumstances of a debate which 
he was carrying on with one named Collins, Franklin 
proceeds : — 

" Three or four letters of a side had passed, when my father 
happened to find my papers and read them. Without entering 
into the discussion, he took occasion to talk to me about the 
manner of my writing ; observed that, though I had the advan- 
tage of my antagonist in correct spelling and pointing (which 
I owed to the printing-house), I fell far short in elegance of 
expression, in method, and in perspicuity, of which he con- 
vinced me by several instances. I saw the justice of his 
remarks, and thence grew more attentive to the manner in 
writing, and determined to endeavor at improvement. 

" About this time I met with an odd volume of the ' Specta- 
tor.' It was the third. I had never before seen any of them. 
I bought it, read it over, and was much delighted with it. I 
thought the writing excellent, and wished, if possible, to imitate 
it. With this view, I took some of the papers, and making 
short hints of the sentiments in each sentence, laid them by a 
few days, and then, without looking at the book, tried to com- 
plete the papers again, by expressing each hinted sentiment at 
length, and as fully as it had been expressed before, in any 
suitable words that should come to hand. Then I compared 



EXERCISES FROM EXTRACTS. L79 

my ' Spectator ' with the original, discovered some of my faults, 
and corrected them. But I found I wanted a stock of words, 
or a readiness in recollecting and using them, which I thought 
I should have acquired before that time if I had gone on mak- 
ing verses ; since the continual occasion for words of the same 
import, but of different length, to suit the measure, or of dif- 
ferent sound for the rhyme, would have laid me under a con- 
stant necessity of searching for variety, and also have tended 
to fix that variety in my mind, and make me master of it. 
Therefore, I took some of the tales and turned them into 
verse ; and after a time, when I had pretty well forgotten the 
prose, turned them back again. I also sometimes jumbled my 
collections of hints into confusion, and after some weeks 
endeavored to reduce them into the best order, before I began 
to form the full sentences and complete the paper. This was 
to teach me method in the arrangement of thoughts. By com- 
paring my work afterwards with the original, I discovered 
many faults and amended them ; but I sometimes had the 
pleasure of fancying that, in certain particulars of small import, 
I had been lucky enough to improve the method or the lan- 
guage, and this encouraged me to think I might possibly in 
time come to be a tolerable English writer, of which I was 
extremely ambitious. My time for these exercises, and for 
reading, was at night, after work, or before it began, in the 
morning, or on Sundays, when I contrived to be in the print- 
ing-house alone, evading as much as I could the common 
attendance on public worship which my father used to exact 
of me when I was under his care, and which, indeed, I still 
thought a duty, though I could not, as it seemed to me, afford 
time to practice it." 

The foregoing passage from Franklin's " Autobiog- 
raphy," and the following extract from Addison, may- 
be used as the first passages given the class for exer- 
cises in reproduction. 



180 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

A SUNDAY AT SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY's. 

[FROM " THE SPECTATOR."] 

I am always very well pleased with a country Sunday ; and 
think, if keeping holy the seventh day were only a human in- 
stitution, it would be the best method that could have been 
thought of for the polishing and civilizing of mankind. It is 
certain the country people would soon degenerate into a kind 
of savages and barbarians, were there not such frequent returns 
of a stated time, in which the whole village meet together with 
their best faces, and in their cleanliest habits, to converse with 
one another upon indifferent subjects, hear their duties explained 
to them, and join together in adoration of the Supreme Being. 
Sunday clears away the rust of the whole week, not only as it 
refreshes in their minds the notions of religion, but as it puts 
both the sexes upon appearing in their most agreeable forms, 
and exerting all such qualities as are apt to give them a figure 
in the eye of the village. A country fellow distinguishes him- 
self as much in the churchyard, as a citizen does upon the 
'Change, the whole parish politics being generally discussed in 
that place either after sermon or before the bell rings. 

My friend Sir Roger, being a good churchman, has beautified 
the inside of his church with several texts of his own choosing : 
he has likewise given a handsome pulpit-cloth, and railed in 
the communion-table at his own expense. He has often told 
me, that at his coming to his estate he found his parishioners 
very irregular; and that in order to make them kneel and 
join in the responses, he gave every one of them a hassock 
and a Common Prayer-Book : and at the same time employed 
an itinerant singing-master, who goes about the country for 
that purpose, to instruct them rightly in the tunes of the 
Psalms ; upon which they now very much value themselves, 
and indeed outdo most of the country churches that I have 
ever heard. 



EXERCISES FROM EXTRACTS. l8l 

As Sir Roger is landlord to the whole congregation, he keeps 
them in very good order, and will suffer nobody to sleep in it 
besides himself; for if by chance he has been surprised into a 
short nap at sermon, upon recovering out of it he stands up 
and looks about him, and if he sees anybody else nodding, 
either wakes them himself, or sends his servant to them. Sev- 
eral other of the old knight's particularities break out upon 
these occasions : sometimes he will be lengthening out a 
verse in the singing Psalms, half a minute after the rest 
of the congregation have done with it ; sometimes, when he 
is pleased with the matter of his devotion, he pronounces 
" Amen " three or four times to the same prayer ; and some- 
times stands up when everybody else is upon their knees, 
to count the congregation, or see if any of his tenants are 
missing. 

I was yesterday very much surprised to hear my old friend, 
in the midst of the service, calling out to one John Matthews 
to mind what he was about, and not disturb the congregation. 
This John Matthews it seems is remarkable for being an idle 
fellow, and at that time was kicking his heels for his diversion. 
This authority of the knight, though exerted in that odd man- 
ner which accompanies him in all circumstances of life, has a 
very good effect upon the parish, who are not polite enough to 
see anything ridiculous in his behavior ; besides that the gen- 
eral good sense and worthiness of his character make his 
friends observe these little singularities as foils that rather set 
off than blemish his good qualities. 

As soon as the sermon is finished, nobody presumes to stir 
till Sir Roger is gone out of the church. The knight walks 
down from his seat in the chancel between a double row of his 
tenants, that stand bowing to him on each side ; and every 
now and then he inquires how such a one's wife, or mother, or 
son, or father, do, whom he does not see at church ; which 
is understood as a secret reprimand to the person that is 
absent. 



1 82 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

The following notes on the foregoing extract explain 
the method suggested for aiding the memory, and will 
be found helpful : — 

i. Advantage of Sunday, if only a human institution ; 
civilizing ; cleanliest habits ; duties, adoration ; rest of 
week ; churchyard and 'Change. 

2. Sir Roger, the church, pulpit-cloth, prayer-book, 
psalm tunes. 

3. Sir Roger in church : order, nap, singing, amen, 
counting congregation. 

4. Incident of John Matthews : idle fellow ; effect on 
parish ; singularities. 

5. Sermon finished, row of tenants, inquiries. 

Note to Teacher. — At first it may be best for the teacher to 
read short extracts aloud to the class, as many times as it seems 
necessary, and make notes upon the blackboard according to the 
capacity of the class. Newspaper clippings and accounts of current 
events in which the pupils are likely to be interested may be often 
used to advantage ; but care should be taken to select passages that 
are models of good style ; for this will unconsciously be copied even 
from a single reading. If, as the author of this work assumes in the 
preface, part of the English work of the class consists in reading an 
English classic, the book used for that purpose will provide many 
examples for reproduction. The passages given above from Frank- 
lin's "Autobiography" and from the " Spectator," may be used for 
the first exercises in reproduction. 



II. SUBSTITUTION. 

Method Explained. — A most excellent exercise in 
composition may be found in taking a passage of good 
prose similar to one chosen for an exercise in repro- 
duction, reading it over carefully several times, substi- 
tuting for the original theme or subject one similar to it, 



EXERCISES FROM EXTRACTS. 183 

and adapting from memory the language of the original 
extract to the treatment of the new theme. This exer- 
cise is especially suitable for descriptions. For example, 
the student may read from Irving's "Sketch Book " the 
description of the Catskiil Mountains, and use it as a 
model for describing other mountainous scenery with 
which he is familiar. 

In " Bracebridge Hall" there is this description of 
Ready-Money Jack : — 

READY-MONEY JACK. 

On the skirts of the neighboring village there lives a kind of 
small potentate, who, for aught I know, is a representative of one 
of the most ancient legitimate lines of the present day ; for the 
empire over which he reigns has belonged to his family time 
out of mind. His territories comprise a considerable number 
of fat acres ; and his seat of power is an old farmhouse where 
he enjoys, unmolested, the stout oaken chair of his ancestors. 
The personage to whom I allude is a sturdy old yeoman of the 
name of John Tibbets, or rather Ready-Money Jack Tibbets, as 
he is called throughout the neighborhood. 

The first place where he attracted my attention was in the 
churchyard on Sunday, where he sat on a tombstone after 
service, with his hat a little on one side, holding forth to a 
small circle of auditors, and, as I presumed, expounding 
the law and the prophets, until on drawing a little nearer, I 
found he was only expatiating on the merits of a brown horse. 
He presented so faithful a picture of a substantial English 
yeoman, such as he is often described in books, heightened, 
indeed, by some little finery peculiar to himself, that I could 
not but take note of his whole appearance. 

He was between fifty and sixty, of a strong, muscular frame, 
and at least six feet high, with a physiognomy as grave as a 
lion's, and set off with short, curling, iron-gray locks. His 



1 84 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

shirt collar was turned down, and displayed a neck covered 
with the same short, curling, gray hair ; and he wore a colored 
silk neckcloth, tied very loosely, and tucked in at the bosom, 
with a green paste brooch on the knot. His coat was of dark- 
green cloth, with silver buttons, on each of which was engraved 
a stag with his own name, John Tibbets, underneath. He had 
an inner waistcoat of figured chintz, between which and his 
coat was another of scarlet cloth unbuttoned. His breeches 
were also left unbuttoned at the knees, not from any slovenli- 
ness, but to show a broad pair of scarlet garters. His stock- 
ings were blue, with white clocks ; he wore large silver shoe- 
buckles ; a broad paste buckle in his hatband ; his sleeve 
buttons were gold seven-shilling pieces ; and he had two or 
three guineas hanging as ornaments to his watch chain. 

On making some inquiries about him, I gathered that he was 
descended from a line of farmers that had always lived on the 
same spot, and owned the same property ; and that half of the 
churchyard was taken up with the tombstones of his race. He 
has all his life been an important character in the place. When 
a youngster, he was one of the most roaring blades of the 
neighborhood. No one could match him at wrestling, pitch- 
ing the bar, cudgel play, and other athletic exercises. Like 
the renowned Pinner of Wakefield, he was the village cham- 
pion ; carried off the prize at all the fairs, and threw his gaunt- 
let at the country round. Even to this day the old people 
talk of his powers, and undervalue, in comparison, all heroes of 
the green that have succeeded him ; nay, they say that if 
Ready-Money Jack were to take the field even now, there is no 
one could stand before him. 

When Jack's father died, the neighbors shook their heads, 
and predicted that young Hopeful would soon make way with 
the old homestead ; but Jack falsified all their predictions. 
The moment he succeeded to the paternal farm he assumed a 
new character, took a wife, attended resolutely to his affairs, 
and became an industrious, thrifty farmer. With the family 



EXERCISES FROM EXTRACTS. 185 

property he inherited a set of old family maxims, to which he 
steadily adhered. He saw to everything himself; put his own 
hand to the plow ; worked hard ; ate heartily ; slept soundly ; 
paid for everything in cash down ; and never danced except 
he could do it to the music of his own money in both pockets. 
He has never been without a hundred or two pounds in gold 
by him, and never allows a debt to stand unpaid. This has 
gained him his current name, of which, by the by, he is a little 
proud ; and has caused him to be looked upon as a very 
wealthy man by all the village. 

Notwithstanding his thrift, however, he has never denied 
himself the amusements of life, but has taken a share in every 
passing pleasure. It is his maxim, that " he that works hard 
can afford to play." He is, therefore, an attendant at all the 
country fairs and wakes, and has signalized himself by feats 
of strength and prowess on every village green in the shire. . 
He often makes his appearance at horse races, and sports his 
half-guinea and even his guinea at a time ; keeps a good horse 
for his own riding, and to this day is fond of following the 
hounds, and is generally in at the death. 

He is a regular frequenter of the village inn, the landlady 
having been a sweetheart of his in early life, and he having 
always continued on kind terms with her. He seldom, how- 
ever, drinks anything but a draught of ale ; smokes his pipe, 
and pays his reckoning before leaving the taproom. Here he 
" gives his little senate laws ; " decides bets, which are gener- 
ally referred to him ; determines upon the character and quality 
of horses ; and indeed plays now and then the part of a judge 
in settling petty disputes between neighbors, which otherwise 
might have been nursed by country attorneys into tolerable 
lawsuits. Jack is very candid and impartial in his decisions, 
but he has not a head to carry a long argument, and is very apt 
to get perplexed and out of patience if there is much pleading. 
He generally breaks through the argument with a strong voice, 



1 86 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

and brings matters to a summary conclusion, by pronouncing 
what he calls the " upshot of the business," or, in other words, 
" the long and short of the matter." 



Of late years the old fellow has begun to take the world 
easily ; he works less and indulges in greater leisure, his son 
having grown up, and succeeded to him both in the labors of 
the farm and the exploits of the green. Like all sons of dis- 
tinguished men, however, his father's renown is a disadvantage 
to him, for he can never come up to public expectation. 
Though a fine active fellow of three and twenty, and quite the 
" cock of the walk," yet the old people declare he is nothing 
like what Ready-Money Jack was at his time of life. The 
youngster himself acknowledges his inferiority, and has a won- 
derful opinion of the old man, who indeed taught him all his 
athletic accomplishments, and holds such a sway over him, that 
I am told, even to this day, he would have no hesitation to 
take him in hands, if he rebelled against paternal government. 

The foregoing extract having been taken as a model, 
the following description of "The Village Cobbler" 
was written in accordance with the method just ex- 
plained : — 

THE VILLAGE COBBLER. 

There is a cobbler in the little town of Crosby Cross-roads 
who might be classified as one of those persons called " char- 
acters." His name is James Harrison, but he is commonly 
known in the village by that of Jim. 

The first time that he attracted my attention, was one Sunday 
morning in church, when, in the first hymn, I was nearly 
deafened by a deep bass voice, a couple of pews back of me, 
bellowing forth the hymn in a manner truly wonderful. 



EXERCISES FROM EXTRACTS. 1 87 

Jim is a typical old-fashioned cobbler, about sixty years of 
age. He is above the average height, and quite broad and 
strong for his years. His face is one of those broad, Ger- 
man types, with a large mouth, deep-set eyes, and hooked 
nose. He has a short, iron-gray beard, and what hair he 
possesses is gray and rather curly. He was dressed, on that 
day, in the ordinary Sunday manner of a farmer; that is, his 
clothes were far too big for him, and looked as though they 
might have been made of pasteboard. 

My curiosity once aroused, I determined to find out some- 
thing about him, so one or two days after I dropped into his 
shop, and had a long talk with the old fellow. 

He lives in an ordinary country house, painted white, with 
brown blinds. In front is a garden, in the shape of a square, 
bordered with a scraggy hedge of boxwood, which boasts a 
couple of flower beds of dried and withered sunflowers and 
geraniums. His shop, in the wing of the house, is a small 
room, with a stove in the center, and the bench and stool 
where Jim works in one corner. The whitewashed walls are 
decorated with long shelves of old and dusty shoes, the soles of 
which, as they gaze down upon the visitor, one may imagine, 
bespeak the character and habits of their owners. Here the 
thick hobnailed shoe of some plowman seems to smile at 
you, as if well contented with its goodly supply of leather, and 
then you may see the poor remains of the once gorgeous ball 
slippers of some country belle, thin and old now, and seemingly 
tired of their gay and frivolous life. 

On the day of which I speak, Jim was very talkative, and 
unfolded to me his whole history. It seems that he was the 
son of a French carpenter, brought up and married on the 
other side, who had immigrated to this country to be employed, 
for the rest of his life, in the navy yard at Philadelphia. 

Jim had been born on the voyage over, but he still maintains 
that he must be an American, because, as he says, " he'd 'eared 
tell that he was born on the last half of the journey." Jim, 



1 88 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

when he was about seventeen, came from Philadelphia to 
Crosby Cross-roads, to learn the trade of shoemaking ; and 
afterwards, as near as I could understand, had worked at his 
trade in about every city in the Union. This was long before 
the civil war. 

Jim always had a taste for hard cider, and, of late years, has 
been freely indulging himself. So, if he is not at home, he is 
sure to be found at the " Black Swan," a tavern two or three 
miles below Crosby Cross-roads. In fact he now frequently 
spends the night off " rabbit-shooten," as he says, with his dog 
" Colonel," a forlorn cur, which snaps and growls at anybody 
but his owner. So much time, indeed, does Jim spend away, 
that if any one, on going into his shop, did not know his habits, 
he might think, from the number of shoes waiting to be mended, 
that his trade was rapidly rising. 

Jim is generally very talkative, and likes nothing better than 
to tell you long stories of his past life. He is still an ardent 
sportsman, and, like most persons of that genius, has a stock of 
stories, which, from their frequent repetition, border closely 
upon the marvelous. 

That Jim is an earnest Christian, nobody, from his strict 
attendance at church, can doubt. He was something of a 
singer, too, in his day, I believe, and led the village choir for 
many years. Jim has also entered into politics, and was once 
constable and squire of the township. It is, however, a long 
time since he gave up public life, though he still remains, with, 
perhaps, the exception of the old white-haired parson, the most 
venerated inhabitant of the village. 

III. ABSTRACT OR CONDENSATION. 

Method Explained. — A third method of using the 
writings of others as a source of ideas for school com- 
positions, may be found in taking extracts of somewhat 
greater length than those in mind for exercises in repro- 



EXERCISES FROM EXTRACTS. 189 

duction and substitution, and condensing the matter of 
several pages into a single paragraph. This exercise 
may be performed with the book open, or from memory, 
and has the practical advantage of cultivating the faculty 
of abridging or epitomizing a detailed statement of facts 
or events. 

The student should select the important matter from 
the passage to be condensed, and should take care that 
in the work of abridging he does not omit any matter 
necessary for making the abstract coherent and intelli- 
gible. He is not to pick out a sentence here and another 
there ; but each sentence of the abstract should cover 
the ground of several sentences, if not several para- 
graphs, of the original. A good recitation in history is 
a fair example of a verbal abstract of the book studied. 
A poor recitation is often made by dwelling on a detail, 
and forgetting the general current of events. 

If the class is studying history, or if it has recently 
studied history, the best practice in writing abstracts 
will be found by assigning work from the book used in 
the history class. Familiar poems, ballads, or legends 
are excellent for this purpose. 

EXERCISE. 

Condense into three or four hundred words the subject matter 
of one of the following poems : "The Loss of the Galleon/' by 
Bret Harte; "The Ancient Mariner," by Coleridge ; "Count 
Robert of Sicily," by Longfellow. 

IV. TRANSLATION. 

Advantages of Written Translation. — If a class has 
made sufficient progress in the study of any foreign 



190 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

language to translate extracts from that language, the 
writing of translations will be found one of the best exer- 
cises in English composition. The advantages of writing 
translations are evident from the fact that the thought 
is furnished, and can be kept constantly in view, while no 
English words are present. The choice and arrange- 
ment of words is often treated in a very slovenly manner 
in oral translations; and through such carelessness, 
pupils often do their English much harm. Whether 
speaking or writing, the student should make his transla- 
tion thoroughly English, not only by using English 
words, but by using only English idioms and construc- 
tions ; and should never follow the order of the original 
words, or the foreign idioms, to the loss of a good English 
sentence. 

It is not necessary to give extracts for use in trans- 
lation ; for they must be taken from books that the class 
is familiar with. Any French, German, or Latin reader 
may be used for this purpose, as may any foreign author 
that the class has studied. 

Advantages of Exercises from Extracts. — In the exer- 
cises given thus far, we have paid little attention to the 
subject, or theme; for this in its full development, as 
well as the order of statement, has been provided in 
the extracts used as models. The aim in the foregoing 
exercises has been to start the work of composition with 
the least possible hindrance from the lack of thoughts 
suitable for written work. It is to be hoped that the 
practice in writing thus acquired has done much to 
secure an easy advance in the more difficult work we are 
about to take up, in which the student must find the 
materials for his composition from wider sources than a 
single extract. 



EXERCISES FROM EXTRACTS. 191 

The following books contain many passages suitable 
for work in reproduction, substitution, and condensation, 
and are well adapted for use in class : — 

Irving's "Sketch Book." 

Scott's "Lady of the Lake" and "Marmion." 

Shakespeare's " Midsummer Night's Dream," and Lamb's " Tales 

from Shakespeare." 
Addison's " Roger de Coverley Papers." 
Scott's " Ivanhoe." 
Franklin's "Autobiography." 
Goldsmith's "Vicar of Wakefield." 
Thackeray's " Henry Esmond." 
Cooper's " Spy." 
Ruskin's " Sesame and Lilies." 



CHAPTER IV. 
DESCRIPTION AND NARRATION. 

I. DESCRIPTION. 

Most Natural Kind of Composition. — After practice in 
exercises based on extracts from the writings of others, 
the easiest advance for the pupil is to describe what 
he has seen or to narrate events that he has witnessed 
himself. Here the material for the composition is 
either before the writer's eyes or in his memory. But 
there are other equally good reasons for placing descrip- 
tion first in the list of exercises in original composition ; 
for description enters into every other form of writing ; 
and the initial step toward attaining power with the 
voice or with the pen is the exercise of a close and acute 
observation. 

Ample Scope for Genius. — At first thought it may seem 
that one who has been traveling, or living in strange 
surroundings, will have the only subjects on which to 
write entertaining descriptions or stories. However, no 
form of writing affords greater scope for genius than 
does the description of ordinary sights or the recital of 
ordinary events. The charm of the writings of Addison, 
Hawthorne, or Irving lies in the wonderful power pos- 
sessed by them to paint in words the beauty which they 
were able to discover in the simple everyday affairs of 
life. It is said that Charles Dickens had a power of 

192 



DESCRIPTION* AND NARRATION. 1 93 

observation equal to that of nine ordinary men. The 
close attention to details which he practiced in the 
reporter's gallery of the House of Commons reappears 
in all his works in the faithful touches of his pen. The 
opening of the fifth chapter of " Pickwick " is especially 
noticeable for the beauty of the description ; and it is 
well known now, that the picture there given, in a few 
touches of the magic pencil of the great master of 
modern fiction, was one of the most familiar to his eye, 
and which had painted itself on his memory in his 
earliest days, as he loitered on the old stone bridge of 
the city of Rochester, close by his native place. 

[FROM m PICKWICK PAPERS."] 

On the left lay the ruined wall, broken in many places, and 
in some overhanging the narrow beach below in rude and heavy 
masses. Huge knots of seaweed hung upon the jagged and 
pointed stones, trembling in every breath of wind ; and the green 
ivy clung mournfully around the dark and ruined battlements. 
Behind it rose the ancient castle, its towers roofless, and its 
massive walls crumbling away, but telling us proudly of its old 
might and strength, as when, seven hundred years ago, it rang 
with a clash of arms or resounded with the noise of feasting 
and revelry. On either side, the banks of the Med way, covered 
with cornfields and pastures, with here and there a windmill or 
a distant church, stretched away as far as the eye could see, 
presenting a rich and varied landscape, rendered more beauti- 
ful by the changing shadows which passed swiftly across it, as 
the thin and half- formed clouds skimmed away in the light of 
the morning sun. The river, reflecting the clear blue of the 
sky, glistened and sparkled as it flowed noiselessly on; and 
the oars of the fishermen dipped into the water with a clear and 
liquid sound, as their heavy but picturesque boats glided down 
the stream. 

sch. eng. — 13 



194 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

Practical Suggestions. — It is this quick sense and 
power of observation to which we owe many of the 
masterpieces of our literature. 

The following advice to students of English composi- 
tion was given by one well qualified to speak on the 
subject : — - 

" It is not given to every one to transmute, by magic touches, 
the dust of the highway into gold and gems. True enough, 
and yet the magic touch must be tried before its possessor is 
aware that he has it ; and I would place next in order to a close 
and acute observation, as an essential aid in the formation of a 
good style, the practice of descriptive writing. To any one who 
would improve in the art of English composition I would say, 
describe as faithfully as you can some scene or incident of 
which you are a part. Seat yourself on a summer day under 
a native pine, on some height commanding a varied landscape ; 
and with pencil and notebook in hand, try to reproduce in 
words the picture which nature spreads before you. Begin by 
describing the pine which shelters you. You look up into its 
dark, dense mass of green with a new scrutiny. You are to 
sketch its portrait. In its stern, grim aspect it seems to say to 
you as Cromwell said to Sir Peter Lely, ' Paint me as I am.' 
Your eye fastens upon it with a strange sense of wonder. You 
measure with your glance the height of the giant trunk ; you 
trace the dark, rough outlines of the huge outspreading branches ; 
and as you seek for the secret of its unlikeness to all other 
growths of the forest, you discover as if for the first time that 
it is a leafless tree, thick set at every point, with bristling needles 
of polished green, tipped perhaps with dewdrops or raindrops 
like diamond points, and throwing back the sunbeams as from 
an emerald wall. This tree, if you study it, is a revelation, and 
perhaps when you have written down its true description, and 
from it, as a central point, have traced all the familiar but ever- 
varying objects which make up the landscape, a new power 



DESCRIPTION AND NARRATION. 195 

will be revealed to yourself of using, in the description of natu- 
ral objects, the words you have often striven in vain to com- 
bine for the expression of thought or feeling. 

" It seems to me that the first essays in original composition 
should be in descriptive writing. For beginners, the eye and 
no other faculty, unless an alarming precociousness has set in, 
must instruct the pen. If there is any value in the object 
system on which our kindergarten schools are founded, it is 
surely most available here. At first the results may be rude 
enough. A boy of five or six years old is set to write a compo- 
sition on a horse. Here is what comes of it : 'A horse is 
bigger than a dog. He has four legs, one at each corner.' 
But this is very well as far as it goes ; and it is better to perse- 
vere in this direction, training the mind to draw from nature, 
than to bound the mental horizon by histories, encyclopedias, 
and story books." 

Before undertaking any work in description, it will be 
a great aid to you to read as much as you can find time 
to read from the works of authors noted for their powers 
in this direction. No time will be spent to greater 
advantage than by reading Irving's " Sketch Book " 
or " Bracebridge Hall." Passages which contain the 
brightest and strongest descriptions should be care- 
fully studied, not with the idea in view of imitating any 
single passage, as in the exercises in substitution, but, 
if possible, with the teacher's aid to find general sugges- 
tions for all writing of this kind. Take, for example, 
the following extract from Irving's " Legend of Sleepy 
Hollow : " — 

Old Baltus Van Tassel was a perfect picture of a thriving, 
contented, liberal-hearted farmer. He seldom, it is true, sent 
either his eyes or his thoughts beyond the boundaries of his 
own farm ; but within these everything was snug, happy, and 



196 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

well-conditioned. He was satisfied with his wealth, but not 
proud of it, and piqued himself upon the hearty abundance 
rather than the style in which he lived. His stronghold was 
situated on the banks of the Hudson, in one of those green, 
sheltered, fertile nooks in which the Dutch farmers are so fond 
of nestling. A great elm-tree spread its broad branches over 
it, at the foot of which bubbled up a spring of the softest and 
sweetest water in a little well formed of a barrel, and then 
stole sparkling away through the grass to a neighboring brook 
that bubbled along among alders and dwarf willows. Hard by 
the farmhouse was a vast barn that might have served for a 
church, every window and crevice of which seemed bursting 
forth with the treasures of the farm. The flail was busily re- 
sounding within it from morning till night; swallows and 
martins skimmed twittering about the eaves ; and rows of 
pigeons — some with one eye turned up, as if watching the 
weather; some with their heads under their wings or buried 
in their bosoms ; and others swelling, and cooing, and bowing 
about their dames — were enjoying the sunshine on the roof. 
Sleek, unwieldy porkers were grunting in the repose and abun- 
dance of their pens ; from whence sallied forth, now and then, 
troops of sucking pigs, as if to snuff the air. A stately squad- 
ron of snowy geese were riding in an adjoining pond, convoying 
whole fleets of ducks. Regiments of turkeys were gobbling 
through the farmyard, and guinea fowls fretting about it like 
ill-tempered housewives, with their peevish, discontented cry. 
Before the barn door strutted the gallant cock, that pattern of 
a husband, a warrior, and a fine gentleman, clapping his bur- 
nished wings and crowing in the pride and gladness of his 
heart, sometimes tearing up the earth with his feet, and then 
generously calling his ever-hungry family of wives and children 
to enjoy the rich morsel which he had discovered. 

The pedagogue's mouth watered as he looked upon this 
sumptuous promise of luxurious winter fare. In his devouring 
mind's eye he pictured to himself every roasting pig running 



DESCRIPTION AND NARRATION. 197 

about " with a pudding in its belly " and an apple in its mouth ; 
the pigeons were snugly put to bed in a comfortable pie, and 
tucked in with a coverlet of crust ; the geese were swimming 
in their own gravy ; and the ducks pairing cozily in dishes, 
like snug married couples, with a decent competency of onion- 
sauce. In the porkers he saw carved out the future sleek side 
of bacon, and juicy, relishing ham ; not a turkey but he beheld 
daintily trussed up, with its gizzard under its wing, and, per- 
adventure, a necklace of savory sausages ; and even bright 
chanticleer himself lay sprawling on his back, in a side-dish, 
with uplifted claws, as if craving that quarter which his chival- 
rous spirit disdained to ask while living. 

Points to be noticed. — In studying this passage and 
others of like merit, the following points are especially 
noticeable : — 

I. The language used is simple, as if the author were 
talking rather, than writing. 

Use the ordinary words of conversation when describ- 
ing simple scenes. If describing Westminster Abbey 
or the Pyramids, the grandeur of the scene may require 
the use of loftier words, but not any more so than if 
the writer were speaking earnestly on the same theme. 
The moment a writer employs words that he would not 
use in conversation, there is danger that his writings 
will become empty, and lack the attractiveness which 
comes from naturalness and sincerity. 

II. It is not necessary to give a complete description or 
to go with equal detail into every feature of the scene. 

The general description or outline of the scene may be 
suggested by a very brief sentence, or even by a passing 



198 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

phrase ; and the writer may start at once upon the 
detail of that feature which has impressed him as the 
most prominent or attractive ; and he may dwell on that 
so long as he feels he can hold the reader's interest. 
In the foregoing extract, the animals of the farmyard 
are the attractive feature, and everything is secondary 
to them. 

Many school pupils, in writing a description of a barn- 
yard with which they are familiar, would feel bound to 
give its size, shape, the kind of fence about it, to tell 
which side of the barn it was on, and to mention every 
gate to it, or building in it, with equal accuracy of 
description. 

III. Description is not necessarily an instantaneous 
view, but may be enlivened by action. 

In the scene above described the birds are flying, the 
geese are swimming, and chanticleer is clapping his 
wings and crowing in pride. Of course, this is only 
giving a true picture of the scene. Young writers often 
make the mistake of supposing that a description must 
consist only of measurements, location, size, color, and 
other enumeration of points. A description may be 
better accomplished by telling what is going on than by 
painting objects as they stand. 

In the following extract from " Romola " but a single 
word, broad, is devoted to the size of the market ; none 
to the shape ; and the briefest description of a statue 
and fountain is the only attempt at describing any of 
the architecture or buildings ; yet in these pages George 
Eliot has painted a true picture of the old market at 
Florence. 



DESCRIPTION AND NARRATION. 199 

[FROM GEORGE ELIOT's " ROMOLA."] 

They had now emerged from the narrow streets into a broad 
piazza, known to the elder Florentine writers as the Mercato 
Vecchio, or the Old Market. This piazza, though it had been 
the scene of a provision market from time immemorial, and may, 
perhaps, says fond imagination, be the very spot to which the 
Fesulean ancestors of the Florentines descended from their 
high fastness to traffic with the rustic population of the valley, 
had not been shunned as a place of residence by Florentine 
wealth. In the early decades of the fifteenth century, which 
was now near its end, the Medici and other powerful families 
of the popolani grassi, or commercial nobility, had their houses 
there, not perhaps finding their ears much offended by the 
loud roar of mingled dialects, or their eyes much shocked by 
the butchers' stalls, which the old poet Antonio Pucci accounts 
a chief glory, or dignita, of a market that, in his esteem, eclipsed 
the markets of all the earth beside. But the glory of mutton 
and veal (well attested to be the flesh of the right animals ; 
for were not the skins, with the heads attached, duly displayed, 
according to the decree of the Signoria ?) was just now wanting 
to the Mercato, the time of Lent not being yet over. The 
proud corporation, or " Art," of butchers was in abeyance, and 
it was the great harvest time of the market gardeners, the 
cheesemongers, the venders of macaroni, corn, eggs, milk, and 
dried fruits : a change which was apt to make the women's 
voices predominant in the chorus. But in all seasons there 
was the experimental ringing of pots and pans, the chink- 
ing of the money changers, the tempting offers of cheapness at 
the old-clothes stalls, the challengers of the dicers, the vaunting 
of new linens and woolens, of excellent wooden ware, kettles, 
and frying pans ; there was the choking of the narrow inlets 
with mules and carts, together with much uncomplimentary 
remonstrance in terms remarkably identical with the insults 
in use by the gentler sex of the present day, under the same 



200 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

imbrowning and heating circumstances. Ladies and gentle- 
men who came to market looked on at a larger amount of 
amateur fighting than could easily be seen in these later times, 
and beheld more revolting rags, beggary, and rascaldom than 
modern householders could well picture to themselves. As the 
day wore on, the hideous drama of the gaming house might be 
seen here by any chance open-air spectator — the quivering 
eagerness, the blank despair, the sobs, the blasphemy, and the 
blows : — but still there was the relief of prettier sights : there 
were brood rabbits, not less innocent and astonished than those 
of our own period ; there were doves and singing birds to be 
bought as presents for the children ; there were even kittens 
for sale, and here and there a handsome gattuccio, or "Tom," 
with the highest character for mousing; and, better than all, 
there were young, softly rounded cheeks and bright eyes, 
freshened by the start from the far-off castello at daybreak, 
not to speak of older faces with unfading charm of honest good- 
will in them, such as are never quite wanting in scenes of human 
industry. And high on a pillar in the center of the place — a 
venerable pillar, fetched from the church of San Giovanni — 
stood Donatello's stone statue of Plenty, with a fountain 
near it, where, says old Pucci, the good wives of the market 
freshened their utensils, and their throats also ; not because 
they were unable to buy wine, but because they wished to save 
the money for their husbands. 

But on this particular morning a sudden change seemed to 
have come over the face of the market. The deschi, or stalls, 
were indeed partly dressed with their various commodities, 
and already there were purchasers assembled, on the alert to 
secure the finest, freshest vegetables and the most unexception- 
able butter. But when Bratti and his companion entered the 
piazza, it appeared that some common preoccupation had for 
the moment distracted the attention both of buyers and sellers 
from their proper business. Most of the traders had turned 
their backs on their goods, and had joined the knots of talkers 



DESCRIPTION AND NARRATION. 201 

who were concentrating themselves at different points in the 
piazza. A vender of old clothes, in the act of hanging out 
a pair of long hose, had distractedly hung them round his 
neck in his eagerness to join the nearest group ; an oratorical 
cheesemonger, with a piece of cheese in one hand and a knife 
in the other, was incautiously making notes of his emphatic 
pauses on that excellent specimen of marzolino ; and elderly 
market women, with their egg baskets in a dangerously oblique 
position, contributed a wailing fugue of invocation. 

II. NARRATION. 

Narration and Description. — Relating in writing 
events of which the writer has been a witness, or with 
whose history he has become familiar, is almost as 
natural an exercise in composition as is the description 
of objects before the writer's eyes. Of course, every 
story must contain some description, or it will lack 
interest; and in narrating events as well as in the 
description of scenes, careful observation is all-important. 
It is this faculty which makes the stories of Defoe so 
marvelously lifelike, that in reading them, we can hardly 
convince ourselves that they are not as real as our own 
lives. Remember, then, that interest in a story will be 
increased by good description of characters and of the 
scenes where the actions take place. As a matter of 
fact, most famous descriptions occur in the course of a 
story or history. 

It is by no means necessary to limit one's self to the 
realm of truth in these exercises. Our imaginations play 
most easily in constructing imaginary actions in which 
we are supposed to take part, or which we are supposed 
to witness. It may even be easier to make up a story 
than to relate one that is true. 



202 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

Practical Suggestions. — In all forms of narration, as 
far as possible, relate events in the order of occurrence. 
Remember, however, that every story, true or fictitious, 
long or short, if worth telling at all, should have in it one 
fact of special interest ; and that simply enumerating a 
series of events, without regard to their relation to each 
other, and without leading up to one of special interest, 
is telling a story without a point. Be sure, then, in 
writing any narrative, to keep in mind the point which 
you wish to bring out ; and let everything be said with 
a view to making your point clear. When the chief 
fact has been stated, the story should be quickly brought 
to a close, for the reader will no longer be interested. 
In a novel with a happy ending, the culminating point 
of interest is that chapter in which the hero or heroine 
overcomes all the obstacles, in which misunderstandings 
are cleared up, and obstructing agents disposed of. In 
a tragedy, the events related all lead to misfortune or 
death. A well-written novel may contain many pages 
which one will not tire of reading over and over 
again ; but the events narrated generally have a direct 
bearing upon the plot ; and when the plot is unraveled, 
the rest of the book is taken up with disposing of the 
characters. 

No matter how short a story one writes, he should 
have some point in view, or he will fail to please him- 
self or others. An account of the last vacation is 
frequently assigned for a subject in narration. The 
writer who simply enumerates one event after another 
will fail to make a good composition, but the writer 
who is impressed with one interesting incident or phase 
of his vacation, will, if he writes so as to bring this out, 
be more entertaining than if he had no point in mind. 



CHAPTER V. 



ESSAYS. 



Definition. — An essay or exposition is a short written 
composition explaining any subject. 

Subject must be thoroughly understood. — In all the 
forms of composition studied thus far, the thoughts for 
writing have been found either in an extract from the 
writings of another, or, as in description or narration, 
the subject-matter has been furnished by the eye, the 
memory, or the imagination. From the definition given 
above, it is evident that information of a wider nature is 
absolutely necessary before any progress can be made 
in the work of writing an essay. It is the effort to 
explain a subject before it is understood, or to give 
information before one has any to give, that discourages 
and distracts the person who sits down with pen in 
hand to write on a subject of which he knows nothing 
except that an essay upon it is due from him. 

Understand, then, at the outset, that unless you have 
studied, or read, or at least reflected upon the subject, 
you cannot possibly write an essay on it. Therefore, if 
called upon to write an original composition without 
previous opportunity for preparation, choose for your 
work the description of what you have seen, a story 
that you know, or one that you can make up. The 
essay needs work of preparation before it can be written ; 
and if this work cannot be given, do not attempt to 
write one. 

203 



204 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

Pleasure in Work. — There are undoubtedly many 
pupils who think there is no enjoyment to be found 
in school, because it is a place to work ; and they are 
unwilling to believe that pleasure can be found aside 
from play. This belief will be the cause of much 
unhappiness for them and for all who fail to appreciate 
that one of the greatest pleasures in life is to be found 
in the successful accomplishment of a hard task. The 
scholar who takes any enjoyment in his work will find, 
if he reflects, that his keenest delight comes from the 
consciousness that he has learned something. If 
properly managed, essay work can be made the best 
means of proving to ourselves that we have made some 
progress in our work. The pages which contain the 
expression of one's own knowledge on a subject that 
he has been studying, will be to the writer, if to no one 
else, a reality of no small significance. If, however, 
one attempts to write on subjects in which he is not 
interested or on which he has no real knowledge, the 
essay will be only a sham, incapable of affording satis- 
faction to any one. 



CHOOSING A SUBJECT. 

Unnatural Methods. — How often may a boy be found 
turning over the pages of the encyclopedia or reading 
a column of subjects in a text-book on rhetoric, in the 
hope of finding something to write on, willing to take 
anything, from " A Sheet of Paper" to "The Ambition 
of Napoleon," if only he can be convinced of his ability 
to fill out two pages of foolscap. Choosing subjects by 
these unnatural methods is the chief cause of the diffi- 
culties of essay writing. 



ESSAYS. 205 

School Essays and Literature. — The schoolboy or 
schoolgirl who finds difficulty in choosing a subject, or 
in writing on one arbitrarily assigned, may gain some 
comfort from the fact that no sensible man or woman 
would ever think of acting on this principle. Those 
who have interested the world have written books because 
they could not help writing them ; and though it may 
be unfair to draw conclusions from the career of genius, 
when our aim is the instruction of the average boy and 
girl, yet we may say of all good books that the authors 
wrote them because they had some subject so much in 
their thoughts and in their hearts, that, if they were to 
write at all, they must write on that subject. They 
do not first determine to write and then acquire ideas 
on some new topic of thought, for the sake of putting 
them in writing. 

Of course, school compositions must generally be 
written at the demand of some authority, or not written 
at all ; and viewing them in the same light as real litera- 
ture would be to do away with them entirely. Never- 
theless, it is well to make school exercises as real as 
possible ; and with this end in view, it is important that 
essay subjects should be chosen or assigned by the most 
natural method possible. 

Practical Suggestions. — The first question in your 
mind should not be, What can I write about ? but What 
do I think about ? What do I talk about ? or What am I 
most interested in ? It must be a very vacant-minded 
lad who cannot tell what he talks about most frequently, 
or who cannot name the subject which is most promi- 
nent in his thoughts. If the only thought you can name 
is how you hate school, develop that on paper ; and by 
so doing, you may find a better heart and learn the error 



206 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

of your way. If you only think of baseball, write on 
that in the best way you can. 

But the state of the schoolboy's brain is better than 
many believe ; and his thoughts are regulated more by 
the work he is doing and the books he is reading than 
by any other influence. Give a boy an exciting book, 
and he will be apt to neglect his work for it, and pos- 
sibly his play. Put a good novel in his hands, and his 
thoughts, and even his dreams, will be largely upon the 
subject of that book. Therefore, if you wish to write 
on a literary subject, instead of hunting for subjects, or 
taking one arbitrarily assigned, select a good book, or 
study carefully any book that you are reading in class. 
Listen carefully to the discussions which come up in 
the classroom. Notice every question asked there that 
you would like to answer yourself or to know the answer 
of. Carry the discussions of the classroom to your 
home, make them topics of conversation there and 
with others, and very soon you will have an essay sub- 
ject on which you can write with interest and pleasure. 

GATHERING INFORMATION. 

Subjects Classified. — Essay subjects on which school 
pupils may profitably spend their time may be divided 
into three classes. 

I. Those taken from the occupations or entertain- 
ments of boys or girls. 
II. Those taken from topics of current interest. 
III. Literary subjects, or those taken from books. 

After the subject has been chosen, the next step is to 
gather sufficient information for intelligently explaining 



ESSAYS. 207 

it in a written composition. The method of gath- 
ering information' will vary as the subject is taken 
from one or another of the three classes mentioned 
above. 

Practical Suggestions, — I. If the subject is taken from 
school life, or your own occupations out of school, 
especially if it is, as it should be, something in which 
you are particularly interested, you will probably have 
many ideas of your own ; and you may feel ready to 
start the work of writing at once. It will always be 
wise, however, to talk the matter over with some friend 
also interested in it, and thus add his to your own stock 
of information. If you have arrived at any opinions on 
debatable matters, give your friend your opinions and 
the reasons for having adopted them. His arguments 
for or against your conclusions will probably be sug- 
gestive of new thoughts. If any good books or articles 
can be found bearing directly on the subject, it will be 
well to read them, unless you feel that you have plenty 
to say without doing so. 

II. If your essay is to be on some current topic of gen- 
eral interest, your fitness to write will depend on whether 
you have gained interest in your subject by listening to 
intelligent conversations, or by reading the articles on 
that subject in the newspapers and magazines. If you 
have not become interested in this way, your theme has 
been ill chosen ; and you had better get another. If, 
however, the subject is well chosen, you should make 
notes of all the information you have picked up from 
conversations ; and if possible, review the best articles 
you have read on your subject. Find as many articles 
as you can, and keep them for reference. Remember 
you are after information. Do not stop seeking it until 



208 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

you feel that you have sufficient to explain your subject 
to an intelligent reader. The encyclopedia may be 
consulted for matters in the history of the theme 
being discussed ; but no mistake is more childish than 
to suppose that an essay on a topic of current interest 
can be written from an encyclopedia article. 

III. A subject may be taken from a book, whenever 
in reading a book special interest has been awakened 
on that subject. The book should be reread, and all 
passages containing useful thoughts should be noted. 
If other books can be obtained that will add information 
on the subject, they should also be consulted. It is 
especially necessary to have several books for reference 
in writing on a subject from history. It is difficult to 
overestimate the amount of time that can be profitably 
spent in reading, if one is going to write an essay on a 
character or topic in history. Of course, your time is 
limited, but remember that most of the time allowed for 
the essay should be spent in reading and making notes. 
If you are going to write an essay on Alexander the 
Great, you should know the life of Alexander well 
enough to pass an examination upon it, and to have a 
few thoughts of your own worth telling to others. 

THE OUTLINE. 

Necessity for an Outline. — When the subject has 
been chosen, and by reading and conversation the mind 
and notebook are full of information, though the writer 
may have determined on the order for the presenta- 
tion of his thoughts, difficulty will be found in follow- 
ing this order in writing, unless a written outline or 
skeleton of the essay has been made, showing the topics 



ESSAYS. 209 

to be covered and the order in which they should be 
taken up. 

There is nothing unnatural or artificial in the con- 
struction of an outline. Let us suppose that a boy has 
received an invitation which he is very anxious to 
accept, and that his father has said to him, " I hardly 
think I can allow you to go ; but come to me in half 
an hour, and we will talk it over." Now, if that boy 
has ordinary intelligence, he will spend the half hour 
in thinking up all possible objections his father might 
have, and in finding an answer to each one. He will 
decide what he will say first, what he will say next, and 
what argument he will reserve to the end. The boy 
will, in other words, make an outline. He may trust to 
his memory to remember the order he has arranged ; 
but if he should make a note of the outline in writing, 
he would be more certain to cover every point, and 
better able to concentrate his attention on each point 
as he takes it up. Lawyers speak from briefs ; and 
the most eloquent ministers generally have an outline 
or a few notes which enable them to deliver their 
sermons without reading them or committing them to 
memory. 

Avoid Artificial Methods. — Mistakes are often made 
by teaching scholars artificial methods of making out- 
lines. It is not necessary to ask yourselves such ques- 
tions as When ? Where ? How ? Who ? and others 
equally mechanical. But simply soft out your knowl- 
edge under such heads as suggest themselves most natu- 
rally, and arrange these in the best order. 

The publisher of one of the most popular magazines 
recently said that the beginning and ending of most 
articles from new contributors could be cut off without 

SCH. ENG. — 14 



2IO SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

harm to the articles. Do not feel it necessary to begin 
with remarks more or less irrelevant to the subject for 
the sake of having an introduction ; and after you are 
through, do not think you must add a conclusion. Begin 
your subject without any apology or explanation; and 
let the first item of your outline be a part of the infor- 
mation you wish to convey; and when you have cov- 
ered every point, nothing more is necessary. 

WRITING THE ESSAY. 

Make Use of the Outline. — When the outline is fin- 
ished, you are ready to write. But the work is two 
thirds over when you have reached this point. Develop 
each item of the outline as fully as you can. When 
you have covered all the items, look carefully over your 
work with a view, if possible, to improving the arrange- 
ment of the matter and weaving together what has 
been written on the different points. Criticise the lan- 
guage you have used. Correct every error you have 
made in grammar or in the choice of words, and every 
sentence that lacks clearness. Make such changes as 
you see will improve the force and harmony of your 
work. Finally copy the essay as corrected. 

Write carefully from the Start. — Do not write care- 
lessly at first, because you intend to copy the first 
draught. Write always as carefully as you can. Capi- 
talize and punctuate as you go along. As was said in 
the chapter on letter writing, carefulness will not pre- 
vent naturalness in writing. Never allow a mistake to 
go uncorrected. If after the work is copied, you dis- 
cover too many errors to correct without spoiling the 
appearance of a page, copy that page again. 



ESSAYS. 



211 



For original work, as has been already shown, one 
will draw his ideas very largely from books, and the 
question will arise, How far is it proper to take the 
thoughts or words of others ? Of course, it is never 
right to copy the exact words of others without inclos- 
ing the passage taken in quotation marks ; nor should 
you deliberately take the ideas of another and advance 
them as your own. Unless quoting, it is best not to 
write with your authorities open before you, except 
when referring to dates and similar matter of record, or 
when designedly introducing a condensed statement of 
another's work. When, however, by reading or study 
you have worked into your own mind the knowledge or 
opinions of others, so that you are able to reflect intel- 
ligently on this knowledge, you need have no hesitation 
in writing down whatever you think on any subject, 
even though your thoughts be similar to those you have 
read. 



CHAPTER VI. 

DEBATE. 

Natural Tendency to Debate. — The object of much 
of our writing and talking is to convince others of an 
opinion, or to persuade them to a certain course of 
action. If we enter a room and find an animated con- 
versation in progress, we may be quite sure that some 
sort of argument is going on. This is apt to be the 
case, even if the persons engaged in the conversation 
are very young children, whose arguments as to the 
relative merits of their respective parents, brothers, or 
games, are as serious to themselves as they are enter- 
taining to the listener. 

Letters and most other forms of composition are apt 
to be argumentative in their nature. Lawyers, preach- 
ers, and public speakers of all sorts, deal chiefly with 
some form of persuasion. When a number of school 
or college students come together voluntarily for the 
object of literary improvement, their exercises generally 
take the form of debate. 

When, therefore, we urge the student to be natural 
in his composition, we must expect that much of his 
writing will be argumentative. In spite, however, of 
this natural tendency, few people have the ability to 
argue well. The strife incident to the difference of 
opinion between uneducated people, the unsatisfactory 
results from their discussions, and the ease with which 



DEBATE. 



213 



skilled orators can turn an excited audience from one 
opinion to another, show clearly that the force of an 
argument depends chiefly on the way in which it 
is put. 

Logic and Rhetoric. — The study of the laws of 
thought and an analysis of the ways in which the 
human mind arrives at knowledge and conviction, do 
not belong to our subject. But when one is attempt- 
ing to prove any proposition, or to convince readers 
or listeners of any matter, it is most important that 
he should express himself so that his ideas may be 
apprehended with the least possible effort. Without 
method most arguments become a hopeless confusion 
of facts, beliefs, and illustrations. Often the real 
question is lost sight of, and much breath or ink ex- 
pended to no purpose. We, therefore, give a few 
suggestions, the observance of which will enable the 
student to arrange the material to be used in an argu- 
ment, so that the reader or listener will readily appre- 
ciate its bearing upon the question at issue. 



SUGGESTIONS. 

I. Begin with a clear and complete explanation of the 
question. 

Before arguments on either side can have any 
weight, the exact nature and extent of the question 
must be thoroughly understood : therefore the first 
requisite for an intelligent and persuasive argument 
is a clear and complete exposition. Nothing else 
will aid so much towards securing a speedy and satis- 
factory settlement. For example, a body of men, in 
drawing up regulations for a charitable institution, are 



214 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

undecided whether to prohibit card playing. A discus- 
sion ensues; and the man who does not consider it 
wrong to play cards himself will listen to no arguments, 
for he has assumed that they are discussing the moral- 
ity or immorality of card playing : whereas the ethics 
of ordinary card playing may not in the least affect the 
question ; for it is often necessary, for the best of 
reasons, to exclude from an institution articles which are 
no evil in any sense of the word, such as guns and 
dogs ; and the question ought to be strictly confined to 
the compatibility of uncontrolled card playing with the 
purposes and regulations of this particular institution. 
If the question w r ere so stated at the outset, there would 
be no danger of falling into the side issue, or of failing 
to settle in the end the question that was proposed at 
the outset. 

A skillful debater may state a question so as to gain 
as much by his exposition as by argument ; for the 
strength of the right and the weakness of the wrong 
may be made evident by simple statement. A recital 
of all the incidents of a crime is sometimes the strong- 
est weapon to be used against a prisoner at the bar. 

II. Explain fairly just what each side of the question 
means, stating which side you are supporting. 

There is no more forcible argument in a plea for 
honesty, sobriety, morality, or cleanliness, than to state 
the other side and ask a man to defend it. Nothing is 
ever gained by misrepresenting the other side ; for 
should the audience discover the misrepresentations, 
or should they be exposed by an opponent, all further 
statements would be discredited, and, even if perfectly 
true, lose much of their force. 



DEBATE. 215 

III. State your agreement with the opposite side ; also 
state and answer any evident objection to the side sup- 
ported. 

By doing this, attention is secured; for the person 
who has already decided the question against the 
speaker, on account of a supposed unanswerable argu- 
ment, will be in no attitude for listening, until he sees 
that this objection is realized and to be squarely faced. 
Also one may in this way for a while enlist the sym- 
pathy of those opposed to his proposition, and may pos- 
sibly hold their sympathy when he resumes the defense 
of his own side. In addressing a mob, a speaker would 
generally be silenced by hooting, unless he began by 
showing his appreciation of its grievances. 

IV. Find a proposition which your opponent, or all 
reasonable persons ', must admit, and use this as a common 
ground on which to build your argument. 

No argument can be advanced with effect unless 
based on a proposition to which both sides agree. There 
are certain maxims, laws, or decisions, that all lawyers 
and courts must accept ; and law pleading must be based 
on these ; but in ordinary debate it is necessary to find 
some proposition that your opponent will admit, or to 
find some universally admitted proposition, before you 
can be certain that you have a common ground. 

When we hear from the lips of a speaker, " Now all 
will admit this," or " Everybody believes as follows," 
we know that he is stating the foundation for his argu- 
ment. For example, in appealing to any one for a 
subscription, after the person appealed to has declared 
his willingness to subscribe to all worthy charities, one 



2l6 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

has simply to prove the worthiness of the charity he is 
representing. If, however, the man appealed to raises 
the question whether all charity does not tend to pau- 
perize those who receive it and to increase the diffi- 
culties of the coming generation, it will be necessary 
to convince him of several preliminary propositions, 
before it will be of use to describe the merits of the 
charity under consideration. 

V. Select the strongest arguments, state them sepa- 
rately, and make clear the exact bearing of each with 
reference to the proof of the main proposition. 

How often when listening to a speaker do we fail to 
appreciate the bearing of what he is saying, and wonder 
what he is driving at. To make sure that all arguments 
will have their full weight, the syllogism in each should 
be easily discernible. 

A syllogism is the regular logical form of every argu- 
ment, and consists of three propositions, of which the 
first is called the major premise, the second the minor 
premise, and the last the conclusion. 

The conclusion necessarily follows from the premises ; 
so that if these are true, the conclusion must be true; 
and the argument amounts to demonstration. 

Ex. i. Major Premise. — A charity that aids only the deserving 

and helpless is a worthy charity. 
Minor Premise. — This charity aids only the deserving 
and helpless. 
Conclusion. — This is a worthy charity. 

Ex. 2. Major Premise. — A worthy charity deserves your assist- 
ance. 
Minor Premise. — This is a worthy charity. 

Conclusion. — This charity deserves your assistance. 



DEBATE. 2 1 7 

When the conclusion of one syllogism forms a prem- 
ise of the next, a chain of argument is formed. 

It is not necessary that all arguments should be for- 
mally reduced to syllogisms with all the terms expressed ; 
but by stating that the syllogism in each argument 
should be easily discernible, we mean that the relation 
between premises and conclusions, and the relation be- 
tween each argument and those based upon it should be 
evident. 

VI. Answer your opponent's arguments , or if speaking 
before him, anticipate and answer the chief arguments on 
the opposite side. 

By stating and answering an argument before it is 
advanced by the opposition, the force of it when so 
advanced will be very much impaired. 

VII. Conclude with a brief summary, making evident 
the complete chain of argument. 

Do not, however, make the summary a repetition in 
detail of any part of the debate, but confine the con- 
clusion to a clear and concise enumeration of points 
made in the preceding argument. 



CHAPTER VII. 
PUNCTUATION AND CAPITALS. 

The Object of Punctuation. — In conversation, the 
grammatical construction of sentences and the rela- 
tions of words are to a certain extent indicated by 
pauses, and inflections of the voice. For example, in 
the imperative sentence, Boys, run home quickly, the 
pause after the word boys tells, as clearly as any words 
could explain, that boys is not the subject of the verb 
run, but the vocative of the direct address. Leave out 
the pause, and boys becomes the subject of the verb, 
and we have the declarative sentence, Boys run home 
quickly. 

In written language the grammatical construction is 
exhibited by punctuation ; i.e., by separating sentences 
and the parts of sentences from each other by means of 
symbols called punctuation points. 

If in conversation pauses were made only for the 
sake of showing grammatical construction, and if all 
grammatical constructions were exhibited by pauses of 
the same length, there would be but a single rule to 
learn for all punctuation ; viz., Put a point wherever 
the voice would make a pause. As, however, in speak- 
ing, pauses are often made for rhetorical effect, or to 
gain time for breathing, and as pauses of different 
lengths are made to show different constructions, it is 
almost impossible to punctuate by following the pauses 

218 



PUNCTUATION AND CAPITALS. 219 

that would be made in speaking. It is far easier to 
apply directly the. rules for punctuating according to 
the grammatical construction. As in all other depart- 
ments of rhetoric, these rules are determined by the 
best usage. 

Relative Rank of the Principal Points. — Cases may 
arise where the sentence is to be divided into groups 
of words or clauses, and these groups into still smaller 
subdivisions. Then, one symbol, or pauses of the 
same length, would not be sufficient. For example, 
the line below is to be divided into three equal 
parts, and each of these parts is itself to be divided 
into three equal parts. One point or pause would 
fail to exhibit these divisions, as can readily be seen 
below : — 



Let two points be used, or pauses of two lengths, and 
the twofold division is clearly exhibited : — 



Just as in an army, companies are commanded by 
captains, regiments by colonels, and brigades by gen- 
erals ; so in punctuation, the comma, the lowest point, 
is used between the short and closely connected parts 
of a sentence ; the semicolon comes next in rank, and 
separates the parts of a sentence which are themselves 
already divided by the comma ; while the colon sepa- 
rates parts already divided by the semicolon. The 
period, the interrogation point, and the exclamation 
point are used chiefly at the close of sentences. 



220 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

Punctuation and Grammar. — The object of punct- 
uating, as has been already explained, is to exhibit 
the grammatical construction of what is written. A 
chapter on punctuation must therefore deal largely 
with grammatical terms. For this reason, although it 
has been assumed that the students of this book have 
a knowledge of the principles of English grammar, it 
will be profitable, before proceeding with the rules for 
punctuation, to review the definitions of the grammatical 
terms mentioned in these rules. 

DEFINITIONS OF GRAMMATICAL TERMS. 

A sentence is a collection of words expressing com- 
plete sense. Every sentence must have two parts : 
a subject, that which is spoken of, and a predicate, that 
which is affirmed of the subject; as, The boy runs; 
The bird flies ; The locomotive of the Empire State 
Express can run at the rate of seventy-five miles an 
hour. 

In each of the above examples the part of the sen- 
tence underscored is the subject; the part not under- 
scored is the predicate. 

According to the manner in which the thought is ex- 
pressed, sentences may be divided into four classes : — 

i . Declarative sentences, in which a thought is asserted 
or affirmed. 

Ex. He is good. They are not here. 

2. Interrogative sentences, in which the thought is in 
the form of a question. 

Ex. Is it good ? Are they here ? 



PUNCTUATION AND CAPITALS. 221 

3. Imperative sentences, in which the thought is in 
the form of a command. 

Ex. Be good. Do not come here. 

4. Exclamatory sentences, in which feeling or emotion 
is expressed without making a direct statement. 

Ex. How good he is ! Would that I were home ! 

Sentences are also classified as simple, complex, 
or compound, according to the relation between the 
parts. 

A simple sentence is divisible into a single subject and 
single predicate. 

Ex. The cold winds blow from the north. 

A complex sente7ice is divisible into one independ- 
ent statement and one or more subordinate state- 
ments. 

Ex. The man that bought the horse came for him this morning. 

In the preceding sentence the part underscored is the 
independent statement: the rest depends upon it, and 
does not make sense by itself. 

A compound sentence is divisible into two or more 
independent sentences, each of which makes sense 
when taken by itself. 

Ex. One of them came at nine o'clock, and the other came at ten 
The party reached the stream, and there they camped. 

Two or more words performing the office of a single 
part of speech and not having a subject and predicate 
are called a phrase. 



222 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

Ex. The wind blows from the north . He came into the house . 
She sat under an elm . 

In these examples the parts underscored are phrases. 

Two or more words performing the office of a single 
part of speech and having a subject and predicate are 
called a dependent clause, 

A depejident clause may also be defined as a subordi- 
nate statement. 

Ex. When the guests arrived , the band began to play. 
He worked hard, that he might finish quickly. 
I do not understand what you sav. 

In these examples the parts underscored are clauses. 



RULES FOR PUNCTUATION. 

THE COMMA. 
I. SUBJECT AND PREDICATE. 

Wlien the subject is so long that part of it might be 
mistaken for the subject of a verb to follow, or when the 
subject ends with a verb and the predicate begins with 
one, a comma should be used between the subject and 
predicate. 

Ex. That the First Form should not be able to leave papers in 
their desks without having them stolen by the Second Form, 
is a disgrace to the school. (The comma after Form shows 
that the entire clause, and not any part of it, is the subject 
of is.) 

Whatever is, is right. 

To say that he sleeps, is to say that he is better. 






PUNCTUATION AND CAPITALS. 223 



II. WORDS IN THE SAME CONSTRUCTION. 

1. Words and short phrases in the same construction 
should be separated by commas, except when there are 
only two words or phrases and they are connected by 
conjunctions. The last of a series of words, when not 
preceded by a conjunction, should be separated by a comma 
from the portio7t of the se7itence following. 

Ex. The good, the true, and the beautiful are to be found in all 

grades of life. 
The good, the true, the beautiful, are to be found in all grades 

of life. 
It seems he never, never, could redeem from such a steadfast 

spell his lady's eyes. 
He sees the evil and the good. 
Actions, not years, determine a man's life. 
Months or years will tell. 
Horses, cattle, and sheep are the chief products of the country. 

Some writers omit the commas in the case of three 
or more words severally connected by conjunctions ; as, 
The good and the true and the beautiful are to be found 
in all grades of life. If, however, only the last pair 
are connected by a conjunction, the comma should be 
placed before that conjunction ; as, Men, women, and 
children came rushing to the place. 

Ex. In Paris, wits, philosophers, and coffee-house politicians were 
all to a man warm Americans. 

2. When one of two words or phrases connected by a 
conjunction has a qualifier that does not belong to the 
other, but might otherwise be supposed to belong to it, 
the words should be separated by a comma. 

Ex. The soldiers, and the prisoners of the enemy, lay down to rest. 



224 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

3. When the second of two words connected by the 
conjunction or is explanatory of the first or a definition 
of it, the words should be separated by a comma. 

Ex. The river, or streamlet, was full of trout. 

The valley, or canon, was so narrow that one could hardly see 
the sky above. 

4. If words in the same construction naturally fall 
into pairs, the commas should be tised only between 
the pairs. 

Ex. Sink or swim, live or die, survive or perish. 

In comfort and distress, in success and failure, in prosperity 
and ruin, he exhibited the same calmness of mind. 



III. CLAUSES AND PHRASES. 

I. Phrases and dependent clauses not closely and 
smoothly connected with the rest of the sentence should be 
separated from it by commas. If the phrase or clause is 
at the beginning or end of a sentence, one comma is suffi- 
cient. 

Ex. As the time drew near for action, they prepared themselves as 

best they could. 
With this conviction of the importance of the present crisis, 

silence in me would be a crime. 
When I shall be called upon, I shall be found ready. 
If you do not believe me, ask others. 

Note. — After the conjunction and or but, preceded by a longer 
pause than the comma, the first comma may be omitted. 

Ex. We now enter upon a new subject ; and for the sake of order 
and clearness, it is proposed to separate this subject into two 
branches. (Comma is omitted after and.) 



PUNCTUATION AND CAPITALS. 225 

If all kinds of phrases and clauses were enumerated 
and a rule given for each, every one of these rules after 
naming the kind of clause or phrase, whether conditional, 
antithetical, participial, or temporal, would end by say- 
ing, If, hozvever, it is closely and smoothly connected in 
tlwugJit and construction witli the rest of the sentence, 
the commas may be omitted. The above rule will do 
for all. 

In the following examples the dependent clause is so 
closely and smoothly joined to the principal clause that 
no punctuation is needed : — 

I shall be found ready when they call me. 

They will accept if they are asked. 

We came upon him when he least expected it. 

2. The parts of a compound sentence, if short and 
closely connected, should be separated by the comma; if 
long, by the semicolon. 

In the following short compound sentences the comma 
is sufficient punctuation : — 

The door was locked, and the key was in it. 
He came in, and they all called for help. 

In the following sentence the parts are longer, and 
the semicolon is used between them : — 

He came into the house in a great hurry ; and before long every one 
was in a state of alarm. 

3. When a relative clause is restrictive, — i.e., when it 
is necessary to complete the meaning of its antecedent, — 
it should not be separated by punctuation from the ante- 
cedent clause. When not restrictive, — i.e., when making 
an additional statement not necessary to the definition of 

SCH. ENG. — 15 



226 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

the antecedent, — it should be separated from the ante- 
cedent clause by a comma. 

Ex. He disliked all the members of the family who disagreed with 
him. 
He disliked all the members of his family, who disagreed with 
him continually. (With the comma, this sentence means he 
disliked all, and they disagreed with him.) 

Distinguish between the following sentences : — 

He left one thousand dollars to his first son who should graduate 

from the high school. 
He left one thousand dollars to his first son, who should graduate 

from the high school. 

4. Direct quotations, if short and informally introduced, 
should be separated from the rest of the sentence by the 
comma; if long and formally introduced, by the colon. 

Ex. He replied, " I am not certain of this." 

He looked up from the book and answered, "There will be 
plenty of time to decide that later." 

" I like his voice," thought Bob, " and he has a pleasant face." 

Xenophon addressed the soldiers in these words : " Fellow- 
soldiers, we have now been," etc. 

The president arose and made the following remarks : " It 
seems to me that there is just cause for," etc. 

IV. SPECIAL CONSTRUCTIONS. 

The following constructions are always separated from 
the rest of the sentence by commas. If they occur at the 
beginning or end of their clause, one comma is sufficient. 

I. Vocative expressions. 

Ex. Mr. President, I move we adjourn. 
John, I wish you would come here. 
I propose, sir, a vote of thanks to the committee. 
Let us hurry on, fellows. 






PUNCTUATION AND CAPITALS. 227 

2. Words in apposition. 

Ex. Plato, the philosopher, wrote many books. 
Og, King of Bashan, went out against them. 
Tarsus, a city of Cilicia. 

3. Words or phrases out of their natural order, or break- 
ing the closely related parts of a sentence. 

Ex. This, on the contrary, is not included. 

He felt, however, that he ought to have gone. 
This, I repeat, is altogether uncalled for. 

4. A clause or phrase removed from the word which 
it qualifies, if otherwise it might be mistaken as quali- 
fying the next preceding word. 

Ex. They came out to meet the minister's family, dressed in their 
best clothes. (The comma after family shows that the fol- 
lowing phrase qualifies they, and not family.} 
The gentlemen who visited Washington this week, left the 
President, highly elated at their success. 

V. ELLIPSIS. 

The comma marks an ellipsis wherever the voice would 
mark such ellipsis with a pause. 

Ex. The children thought one way ; their parents, another. 

A topical memory makes man an almanac ; a talent for debate, 
a disputant. 

VI. THE COMMA OMITTED. 

The comma may be omitted after the period used with 
abbreviations} also after either of the conjunctions but or 
and following a higher pause. 

Ex. He came to a river bank ; and although every one urged him 
to cross, he refused to do so. 

1 The comma is generally retained after the period in the case of viz. 
and i.e., but should be omitted in references to volume, chapter, and verse 
in books. Ex. Vol. II. p. 137, notYo\. II., p. 137. 



228 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

The tendency of many writers is to omit the comma 
wherever the sense would be clear without any punctu- 
ation. 

THE SEMICOLON. 

1. Two or more clauses ; one or all of which are them- 
selves divided by commas, should be separated from each 
other by the semicolon, 

Ex. He was, considering the disadvantage he labored under, doing 
vast good ; though as has been frankly admitted, it may not 
have been evident to all. 
Heralds by swift relays transmitted the war message from hand 
to hand ; till village repeated it to village, the sea to the 
vast woods, the plains to the highlands. 

2. The semicolon is used between the parts of a com- 
pound sentence, except where the parts are short and 
closely connected, and between complete sentences where 
the period would indicate too long a pause. 

Ex. Washington felt the keenest sensibility at their distress ; but 
he had exhausted all his influence. 

It provoked the unawakened to combine against him ; but one 
of the brethren gave liberty to eight slaves. 

Life lies about us dumb ; day, as we know it, has not yet found 
a tongue. 

From distant corners of the street they ran to greet his hearty 
welcome ; lords of his house were they. 

As the summons hurried to the South, it was one day at New 
York, in one more at Philadelphia ; the next it lighted a 
watchfire at Baltimore ; thence it waked an answer at An- 
napolis. 

3. The semicolon shoidd be used before as, viz., e.g., to 
wit, namely, etc. ; the comma should be tised after them. 

Ex. He had three new members to propose ; namely, Brown, Jones, 
and Smith. 



PUNCTUATION AND CAPITALS. 229 

Ex. There are only two exceptions to this statement ; to wit, the 
adjectives this and that. 
He proposed to visit the three largest cities of the United 
States ; viz., New York, Chicago, and Philadelphia. 



THE COLON. 

1. Two clauses, one or both of which are subdivided by 
the semicolon, should be separated from eacJi other by the 
colon. 

Ex. This chapter is divided into two sections : the first, which was 
written many years since, being a history of the institution ; 
the second, a prophecy as to its future. 

2. The colon is used before all direct quotations, if 
formally introduced, and after all words which formally 
introduce a sentence to follow. If the quoted matter 
begins a new paragraph, the colon should be followed by 
a dash. 

Ex. Caesar spoke as follows : (His speech to follow.) 

He replied in these words : " I shall always be prepared in 

future." 
My dear Friend : (A letter following.) 
After this manner therefore pray ye : Our Father, etc. 
The calamities are our friends. Ben Jonson specifies in his 

address to the Muse : — 

" Get him the time's long grudge, the court's ill-will, 
And, reconciled, keep him suspected still ; 
Make him lose all his friends, and what is worse, 
Almost all ways to any better course ; . 
With me thou leav'st a better Muse than thee, 
And which thou brought'st me, blessed Poverty." 

3. The colon is sometimes used between complete sen- 
tences where the period would indicate too long a pause, 
and the semicolon too short a pause. 



230 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

Ex. It was a dark and dreary night : the wind was blowing in fitful 
gusts. 
It is over : let us go. 

Our botany is all names, not powers : poets and romancers 
talk of herbs of grace and healing ; but what does the bota- 
nist know of the virtue of his weeds ? 



THE PERIOD. 

1. The period is used at the elose of every complete 
declarative sentence, not in a scries, and not closely con- 
nected in thought with the sentence following. 

Ex. This is the reason why beauty is still escaping out of all analy- 
sis. It is not yet possessed ; it cannot be handled. 

2. The period is used to mark an abbreviation, after 
Roman numerals, and as a decimal point in ordinary 
figures. 

Ex. Ex., viz., e.g., St., No., etc, XL, XIL, 1.5, 1.03, 2.50, .07. 



INTERROGATION POINT. 

The interrogation point is used at the cud of every direct 
question, however expressed, whether in a series or alone ; 
but indirect questions should not have the interrogation 
mark. 

Ex. What can I do for you ? 
Now, you understand ? 

How old are you ? What is your trade ? Where do you live ? 
How did this happen ? When? Where? Why? 
I asked him how this happened* 



PUNCTUATION AND CAPITALS. 23 1 



EXCLAMATION POINT. 

The exclamation point is used after exclamatory words 
and phrases, and after sentences expressing a wish or 
strong emotion. If an interjection occurs in an exclama- 
tory sentence, the exclamation point is used at the end of 
the sentence only. 

Ex. Praise be thine, O God ! 

Lost ! Lost ! O that I were home ! 

Oh, I never, never, can be reconciled to this ! 

But even these can understand the cry of fire ! 

Give me of your bark, O Birch Tree ! 

O the long and dreary winter ! 



THE DASH. 

The dash is used before and after parenthetical clauses, 
and before the conclusion after a series of clauses. It 
is used where the grammatical construction of the sen- 
tence is changed, or brought to a sudden close, also to show 
hesitation in speaking, and to mark the omission of letters 
in a word. 

Ex. Every natural feature — sea, sky, rainbow, flowers, musical 
tone — has in it somewhat which is not private, but uni- 
versal. 

If I have been inconsiderate of the feelings of any, if I have 
proceeded without due investigation of facts, if I have made 
a single unjust remark, — I stand ready to make every repa- 
ration in my power. 

She had a heart — how shall I say? — too soon made glad, too 
easily impressed. 

The ultimate cause was one that has been generally recog- 
nized — the lack of proper signals. 

He was a — a — a — well, you know exactly what I mean. 



232 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 



PARENTHESES. 

Parentheses are used to inclose an explanation, author- 
ity, definition, reference, translation, or any matter not 
belonging to the grammatical construction of the sentence. 

Ex. He is (and I make this statement from no base motive) a most 
thoroughly corrupt politician. 
John Cabot was the first European to visit the continent of 
North America. (Bancroft, vol. i. p. 9.) 

BRACKETS. 

The tise of brackets is about the same as that of the 
marks of parenthesis, but is generally confined to words 
inserted in quotations for the sake of explanation. 

Ex. Another schoolmate, Dr. Henry Dawson, furnished Mr. Fors- 
ter with some more detailed reminiscences, from which we 
may make a few extracts. 

" Dickens has given a very lively account of this place [the Academy] 
in his paper entitled ' Our School,' but it is very mythical in many re- 
spects, and more especially in the compliment he pays to himself." 

QUOTATION MARKS. 

Quotation marks are used before and after a passage 
quoted in the exact words of another. Matter quoted 
indirectly, or given only in substance, is not placed within 
quotation marks. A quotation within a quotation is in- 
closed in single marks. 

Where a quotation consists of several paragraphs, 
quotation marks should be used at the beginning of each 
paragrapli, but at the close of the last paragraph only. 

Titles of books, essays, nezvspapers, etc., should be placed 
within quotation marks, u?iless in italics or capitals. 



PUNCTUATION AND CAPITALS. 233 

Ex. "Now, by St. George, 1 ' the archer cries, 

" Edward r methinks we have a prize ! " 

Upon the completion of " The Old Curiosity Shop " in the 
pages of the " Clock," " Barnaby Rudge " was begun. 

The following is from the letters of Charles 
Dickens : — 

"The child lying dead in the little sleeping-room, which is 
behind the open screen. It is winter time, so there are no flowers ; 
but upon her breast and pillow, and about her bed, there may be 
strips of holly and berries, and such free green things. Window 
overgrown with ivy. The little boy who had that talk with her 
about angels may be by the bedside, if you like it so ; but I think 
it would be quieter and more peaceful if she is quite alone. I want 
it to express the most beautiful repose and tranquillity, and to have 
something of a happy look, if death can. 

" The child has been buried inside the church, and the old man, 
who cannot be made to understand that she is dead, repairs to the 
grave and sits there all day long, waiting for her arrival, to begin 
another journey. His staff and knapsack, her little bonnet and 
basket, etc., lie beside him. i She'll come to-morrow,' he says 
when it gets dark, and goes sorrowfully home. I think an hour- 
glass running out would help the notion ; perhaps her little things 
upon his knee, or in his hand. 

"I am breaking my heart over this story, and cannot bear to 
finish it. 1 ' 



HYPHEN. 

The hyphen is used between the parts of certain com- 
pound words, and to mark the division of syllables in 
showing the spelling of words. It is sometimes used in 
place of the diceresis after a prefix ending in a vowel 
before a word beginning with a vowel. 

Ex. Horse-chestnut, Franco-Prussian, re-edit, de-vi-ate, truth-tell- 
ing, text-book. 



234 * SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

APOSTROPHE. 

The apostrophe is used in the possessive case of nouns, 
to denote the plural of figures and letters, and to mark 
the elision of letters at the beginning or middle of a 
word, and the omission of figures in a number or date. 

Ex. John's, men's, 2's, 7's, p's and q's, I've, I'll, don't, won't, 
Po'keepsie, tho', '92, '76. 

THE PARAGRAPH. 

For the sake of appearances, and also to facilitate the 
apprehension of the writer's thoughts, written matter is 
divided into paragraphs, or groups of sentences which 
have a close connection in thought. The paragraph is 
indicated by beginning on the line next after the close 
of the last sentence and by indenting the first word from 
the margin. 

Every group of sentences closely related in thought 
should make one paragraph. When a new subject is to 
be treated, or where any change is made in the method 
of treatment, a paragraph should be made. In a written 
conversation, a change of speaker should be indicated by 
a new paragraph or by a dash. 



CAPITALS. 

The following words should begin with capital let- 
ters : — 

1 . The first word of every sentence, of every line of 
poetry, of every paragraph or line indented from the 
margin, of every sentence quoted directly, of every direct 



PUNCTUATION AND CAPITALS. 235 

question, and of every statement or precept formally 
introduced. 

Ex. May I ask you, Have you never noticed this before ? 

The heart should ever beat, " How good to live and learn !" 

Thy voice is on the rolling air ; 

I hear thee when the waters run ; 

Thou standest in the rising sun, 
And in the setting thou art fair. 

A good rule to keep in mind is as follows : Cut every long 
sentence into two parts. 

2. Every proper noun, every important word used alone 
or in a combination of words to designate the individual 
name 1 of any person, place, ti7ne, or tiling, and every 
word derived from a proper noun, unless by long usage 
it has lost its derivative significance. 

Ex. David, Francis, Smith, tne Black Prince, the West, the North, 
the Lowlands, the Highlands {but, He sailed west ; There 
are many lowlands in this peninsula), the Revolution, the 
Father of the Faithful, the Christian era, the Constitution, 
Sunday, Tuesday, January, September, God, Satan, Jehovah, 
Paris, Uncle John, the Bishop of New Jersey, the Peninsular 
Campaign, Scotch broth, Johnsonian style. 

3. All important words in the titles of books or 
essays. 

Ex. A History of the Rebellion. 
Upward and Onward. 
Free Trade and Protection. 
Put Yourself in his Place. 
Milton's Select Poems. 



1 Whenever any word or words are used in place of a proper name, the 
words are capitalized; but the same words, though designating the same 
object, if used as common nouns, should not be capitalized. (Ex. Good 



236 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

4. The words I and O. 

5. Personal pronouns referring to God, when used in 
direct address, or where the capitals may help to indicate 
the antecedent. 

Ex. Praise be Thine, O God. 
Our times are in His hands. 

6. Nouns indicating personified objects, when used 
distinctly as proper names. 

Ex. Grace, Beauty, and Caprice 
Build this golden portal ; 
Graceful women, chosen men, 
Dazzle every mortal. 

(See examples, p. 129.) 

EXERCISE IN PUNCTUATION. 

Explain according to the rules given in this book, the 
reason for each punctuation point used in the following 
extract. 

A COUNTRY PARSONAGE. 

[FROM GOLDSMITH'S " VICAR OF WAKEFIELD."] 

A proof that even the humblest fortune may grant happiness, which depends 
not on circumstances but constitution. 

The place of our retreat was in a little neighborhood con- 
sisting of farmers, who tilled their own grounds, and were 
equal strangers to opulence and poverty. As they had almost 
all the conveniences of life within themselves, they seldom vis- 
ited towns or cities, in search of superfluities. Remote from the 

morning, Uncle John ! How now, Brother William ? President Harrison. 
I saw my uncle. How is your brother? He is president of three societies.) 
Fragmentary quotations need not commence with a capital. 



PUNCTUATION AND CAPITALS. 237 

polite, they still retained the primeval simplicity of manners ; 
and frugal by habit, they scarcely knew that temperance was a 
virtue. They wrought with cheerfulness on days of labor, but 
observed festivals as intervals of idleness and pleasure. They 
kept up the Christmas carol, sent true-love-knots on Valentine 
morning, eat pancakes on Shrove-tide, showed their wit on the 
first of April, and religiously cracked nuts on Michaelmas eve. 
Being apprized of our approach, the whole neighborhood came 
out to meet their minister, dressed in their finest clothes, and 
preceded by a pipe and tabor. A feast also was provided for 
our reception, at which we sat cheerfully down ; and what the 
conversation wanted in wit, was made up in laughter. 

Our little habitation was situated at the foot of a sloping hill, 
sheltered with a beautiful underwood behind, and a prattling 
river before, on one side a meadow, on the other a green. 
My farm consisted of about twenty acres of excellent land, 
having given an hundred pound for my predecessor's good- 
will. Nothing could exceed the neatness of my little inclos- 
ures, the elms and hedgerows appearing with inexpressible 
beauty. My house consisted of but one story, and was cov- 
ered with thatch, which gave it an air of great snugness. The 
walls on the inside were nicely whitewashed, and my daughters 
undertook to adorn them with pictures of their own designing. 
Though the same room served us for parlor and kitchen, that 
only made it the warmer. Besides, as it was kept with the 
utmost neatness, the dishes, plates, and coppers being well 
scoured, and all" disposed in bright rows on the shelves, the 
eye was agreeably relieved, and did not want richer furniture. 
There were three other apartments, one for my wife and me, 
another for our two daughters, within our own, and the third, 
with two beds, for the rest of the children. 

The little republic to which I gave laws, was regulated in the 
following manner : by sunrise we all assembled in our common 
apartment, the fire being previously kindled by the servant. 
After we had saluted each other with proper ceremony, for I 



238 



SCHOOL ENGLISH. 



always thought fit to keep up some mechanical forms of good 
breeding, without which freedom ever destroys friendship, we 
all bent in gratitude to that Being who gave us another day. 
This duty being performed, my son and I went to pursue our 
usual industry abroad, while my wife and daughters employed 
themselves in providing breakfast, which was always ready at 
a certain time. I allowed half an hour for this meal, and an 
hour for dinner ; which time was taken up in innocent mirth 
between my wife and daughters, and in philosophical arguments 
between my son and me. 

As we rose with the sun, so we never pursued our labors 
after it was gone down, but returned home to the expecting 
family ; where smiling looks, a neat hearth, and pleasant fire 
were prepared for our reception. Nor were we without guests : 
sometimes farmer Flamborough, our talkative neighbor, and 
often the blind piper would pay us a visit, and taste our goose- 
berry wine, for the making of which we had lost neither the 
receipt nor the reputation. These harmless people had several 
ways of being good company; while one played, the other 
would sing some soothing ballad, " Johnny Armstrong's Last 
Good Night," or "The Cruelty of Barbary Allen." The night 
was concluded in the manner we began the morning, my 
youngest boys being appointed to read the lessons of the 
day ; and he that read loudest, distinctest, and best, was to 
have an halfpenny on Sunday to put in the poor's box. 

When Sunday came, it was indeed a day of finery, which all 
my sumptuary edicts could not restrain. How well soever I 
fancied my lectures against pride had conquered the vanity of 
my daughters, yet I found them still secretly attached to all 
their former finery : they still loved laces, ribbons, bugles, and 
catgut. My wife herself retained a passion for her crimson 
paduasoy, because I formerly happened to say it became her. 

The first Sunday in particular their behavior served to mor- 
tify me. I had desired my girls the preceding night to be 
dressed early the next day ; for I always loved to be at church 



PUNCTUATION AND CAPITALS. 239 

a good while before the rest of the congregation. They punc- 
tually obeyed my directions ; but when we were to assemble in 
the morning at breakfast, down came my wife and daughters, 
dressed out all in their former splendor, their hair plastered 
up with pomatum, their faces patched to taste, their trains 
bundled up in a heap behind, and rustling at every motion. I 
could not help smiling at their vanity, particularly that of my 
wife, from whom I expected more discretion. In this exi- 
gence, therefore, my only resource was to order my son, with 
an important air, to call our coach. The girls were amazed at 
the command; but I repeated it with more solemnity than 
before. — "Surely, my dear, you jest," cried my wife, " we can 
walk it perfectly well : we want no coach to carry us now." — 
"You mistake, child," returned I, "we do want a coach; for 
if we walk to church in this trim, the very children in the 
parish will hoot after us." — " Indeed," replied my wife, " I 
always imagined that my Charles was fond of seeing his chil- 
dren neat and handsome about him." — " You may be as neat as 
you please," interrupted I, " and I shall love you the better for 
it ; but all this is not neatness, but frippery. These rufflings, 
and pinkings, and patchings will only make us hated by all the 
wives of all our neighbors. No, my children," continued I 
more gravely, " those gowns may be altered into something of a 
plainer cut ; for finery is very unbecoming in us, who want the 
means of decency. I do not know whether such flouncing 
and shredding is becoming even in the rich, if we consider, 
upon a moderate calculation, that the nakedness of the indigent 
world may be clothed from the trimmings of the vain." 

This remonstrance had the proper effect ; they went with 
great composure, that very instant, to change their dress ; and 
the next day I had the satisfaction of finding my daughters, at 
their own request, employed in cutting up their trains into 
Sunday waistcoats for Dick and Bill, the two little ones ; and 
what was still more satisfactory, the gowns seemed improved 
by this curtailing. 



APPENDIX. 



A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH 
LANGUAGE. 

Origin of the English People. — Notice, in the first 
place, that in the Table of Aryan Languages, English 
appears as a member of the Teutonic, or Germanic, 
group. For the origin of the English people and 
language, we must look far away from England itself 
to that part of Europe now comprising the kingdom 
of Denmark and the Prussian province of Sleswick- 
Holstein. Here, until the middle of the fifth century, 
lived three tribes of the Teutonic family, — the Jutes, 
the Angles (or English), and the Saxons. There was 
undoubtedly a difference in dialect among these tribes ; 
but they all had substantially the same language. 

Religion and Habits. — The religion of the Angles, 
Jutes, and Saxons was that of the other tribes of the 
Teutonic group. Their chief god was Woden, the 
war god. Our names for the days of the week still 
preserve to us the names of several of their gods 
and goddesses. Wednesday is Woden's day; Thurs- 
day preserves the name of Thor, the god of thunder ; 
Friday, the name of the goddess Frigtr. Tacitus has 

240 X 



APPENDIX. 



241 



given us an interesting description of the Saxons, or 
English, before they left their native soil. They were a 
nation of farmers and herdsmen ; but the barrenness of 
their country drove them to the sea, and they became 
the terror of the tribes about them. A Roman poet 
writes of them, that they were fierce beyond all other 
foes ; that the sea was their home, and the storm their 
friend. He calls them sea wolves, for they lived upon 
the pillage of the world. But let us see how the lan- 
guage of these Angles and Saxons became the language 
of England. 

Celtic Britain and Roman Conquest. — When England 
was first made known to the civilized world of Rome, it 
was inhabited by a tribe of the Celtic race called Britons, 
and was known as Britain. Julius Caesar landed upon the 
island in 55 B.C., but not until nearly a century later was 
the conquest completed. A Roman general, Agricola, 
carried the Roman occupation as far north as the Clyde 
and the Firth of Forth. A military government was 
established, and Britain became a Roman province. A 
network of well-built roads covered the island ; agricul- 
ture was encouraged ; and the products of Britain were 
sent from its seaports to all parts of the civilized world. 
Roman occupation continued for nearly four hundred 
years, during which time Britain became civilized and 
Romanized. In the country the Celtic speech survived, 
but Latin was the language of the cities. 

In A.D. 411 the Roman legions were withdrawn from 
Britain, in order to protect Rome from the invasion of the 
barbarians, who were pressing upon it from the north. 

Saxon Conquest of Britain. — After the withdrawal of 
the Roman soldiers, the unprotected Britons were attacked 
by the wild tribes of Scotland and Ireland, called Scots 

SCH. ENG. — 1 6 



242 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

and Picts, which Roman rule and civilization had never 
reached. Centuries of protection by Roman arms, and 
the despotic crushing of all independence and national 
spirit, had rendered the Britons powerless to defend them- 
selves against their warlike neighbors. The east coast of 
the island had been subject to frequent attacks from the 
Angles, Jutes, and Saxons. In their extremity the rulers 
of Britain tried to match these pirates against their 
enemies from Scotland and Ireland. Land was promised 
as a reward for their services ; and in 449 a fleet of boats 
from Jutland landed warriors on the Island of Thanet, 
a short distance from where Canterbury now stands. 
The Picts were defeated ; but the Jutes, reenforced by 
additional bands from home, became the most danger- 
ous foe that the Britons had yet known. More pay and 
rations were demanded than could be supplied, and the 
Teutonic invaders turned upon the Britons, defeated 
them in one battle after another, and in the course of 
time conquered, exterminated, or absorbed almost the 
entire British population as far west as Wales and 
Cornwall. Britain thus became Teutonic, and the later 
supremacy of the Angles accounts for its present name 
of England. 

Saxon Kingdoms. — The Jutes, in all probability, 
formed the first permanent Teutonic settlement in Eng- 
land. This settlement, however, was comparatively 
small. The Saxons were the first invaders with whom 
the Britons had to deal in large numbers. They, there- 
fore, gave the name of Saxons to all invaders from the 
continent. The Angles occupied a much greater share 
of land than the Saxons ; and therefore as soon as the 
Teutonic settlers began to bear a common name among 
themselves, they were called Angles, or English. In 



APPENDIX. 243 

the sixteenth or seventeenth century the term Anglo- 
Saxon became prevalent as the common designation of 
the race and language of the Teutonic settlers in Eng- 
land. No sooner were the wars with the Britons ended, 
than the Anglo-Saxons began fighting among them- 
selves for the mastery of the conquered territory. For 
a long time, Angles, Jutes, and Saxons were distinct 
tribes in England. Different bands of each tribe main- 
tained at first their individual existence; and the island 
was divided among a crowd of smaller states, and a 
few kingdoms, seven or eight in number, among which 
in course of time three or four stand out as aspiring 
for the general supremacy of the country. These 
seven or eight kingdoms are generally known as the 
Saxon Heptarchy. They were Kent, the settlement of 
the Jutes, Sussex (South Saxons), Essex (East Saxons), 
Wessex (West Saxons), and the kingdoms of the Angles, 
known as East Anglia, Bernicia, Deira, and Mercia. 
Bernicia and Deira united and formed Northumbria. 
Northumbria, Mercia, and Wessex for a long time dis- 
puted with each other the supremacy of the tribes. 
Finally Wessex gained the ascendency, and England 
became one nation under West Saxon kings. 

Remnant of the Celts. — The Picts and Scots who 
remained unconquered in Ireland and Scotland, and 
the remnant of the Britons confined to Wales and 
Cornwall, were Celts. The Gaelic, or Highland Scotch, 
the Irish, the Manx, of the Isle of Man, the Welsh and 
the Cornish, are to-day Celtic people ; and though the 
English language is used by the educated classes, the 
native Celtic speech is still spoken by all these races 
except in Cornwall, where English has replaced it 
altogether. 



244 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

THE ANGLO-SAXON LANGUAGE. 

The Foundation of English. — Thus we see that what- 
ever happened in England before the Saxon Conquest 
had little influence on the development of the English 
language. It is important for the student to bear in 
mind that the language we speak has for its foundation, 
not the speech of the Celtic Briton, but that of the 
Anglo-Saxon conqueror. Although our modern English 
is built on the Anglo-Saxon, the two languages or dialects 
are so different that no amount of familiarity with 
modern English will enable one without special study 
to read Anglo-Saxon. 

Anglo-Saxon Inflections. — Besides having a very dif- 
ferent vocabulary from modern English, Anglo-Saxon 
was a highly inflected language. The relations of words 
to each other were exhibited by changes in their endings. 
In English there are scarcely any inflectional endings. 
The relations of words in a sentence are designated by 
prepositions or by the order of the words. The plural s 
of nouns, the 's of the possessive case, the personal and 
tense endings of the verb, the terminations used in the 
comparison of adjectives, and a few forms of the pro- 
nouns comprise nearly all the inflectional forms in 
modern English. 

Ex. Nominative, John; Possessive, John's; Present, I love, thou 
lovest, he loves ; Past, I loved, thou lovedest, he loved ; 
Present Participle, loving ; ^d Personal Pronoun, he, his, 
him, they, their or theirs, them. 

Anglo-Saxon nouns had three or four cases in both sin- 
gular and plural : the nominative, the genitive or posses- 
sive, the dative, and the accusative. Adjectives and pro- 
nouns had each of these cases in the masculine, feminine, 



APPENDIX. 245 

and neuter gender, and each adjective had one declen- 
sion for use with the definite article, and another for 
use without it. In many instances, however, the same 
form was used for several cases. 

SPECIMEN OF ANGLO-SAXON. 
WEST SAXON DIALECT. 

[FROM AN INTERPOLATION MADE BY KING ALFRED IN HIS TRANSLATION OF OROSIUS. 1 ] 

Ohtere saede his hlaforde, ^Elfrede cyninge, fset h£ ealra 
NorSmonna norSmest bude. He cwaeS faet he bude on p&m 
lande norSweardum wiS fa Westsae. He saede peah f set paet 
land sie swi<5e lang norS ponan ; ac hit is eall weste, buton on 
feawum st6wum styccemaelum wiciaft Finnas, on hunto<5e on 
wintra, ond on sumera on fiscafte be paere sae. He" saede fset 
he aet sumum cirre wolde fandian hu longe ];aet land norSryhte 
laege, o$(5e hwaefter oenig monn be norftan \ aem westenne bude. 

TRANSLATION OF THE FOREGOING PASSAGE. 

Ohtere said to his lord, King Alfred, that he dwelt farthest- 
north of all Northmen. He said that he dwelt in the land 
northward along the West Sea. He said, though, that that land 
extended far north from there ; but it is all waste, except that in 
a few places here and there Finns live, hunting in winter and 
in summer fishing, by that sea. He said that he on one 
occasion wished to explore how far that land extended due 
north, or whether any man dwelt north of the waste. 

Latin and French in English. — By comparing the orig- 
inal passage in the above illustration with modern Eng- 
lish, it is evident that our language has undergone great 
changes in the last thousand years. If we are acquainted 

1 From Webster's " International Dictionary," p. xlii. 



246 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

with French and Latin, we may see in the translation 
of this passage that the words printed in Italics resemble 
French or Latin words. Let us now endeavor to trace 
the events that have brought about these changes. 

INFLUENCE OF OTHER LANGUAGES ON THE ANGLO- 
SAXON. 

Celtic. — We have seen that Celtic languages con- 
tinued to be spoken in Wales and Cornwall, Ireland, 
and Scotland. We might, therefore, expect to find the 
Anglo-Saxons adopting many words from the vocab- 
ulary of their neighbors ; but the hostility between the 
Saxons and the Celts precluded any extensive influence 
of the languages upon one another. Some words have 
been taken from the Welsh and other Celtic dialects, 
but the number of Celtic words in English is very small. 

Roman Occupation. — It is probable that at the time 
of the Saxon conquest the Britons used many Latin 
words, for they had been for centuries under Roman 
rule. Many Roman names of places in England are 
still retained. A few other words have come into Eng- 
lish from the Latin of the Roman occupation of Britain. 

Church Latin. — In the year 597, Augustine and a 
company of priests from Rome landed in Kent. Other 
missionaries from the church of Rome, and from the 
Christian churches in Ireland, went to other parts of Eng- 
land ; and by the year 681, the last Anglo-Saxon king- 
dom accepted Christianity. The missionaries brought 
with them the Latin services of the church of Rome. 
The language of the monasteries was also Latin ; and 
as the monasteries were the home of literature and the 
source of all education in England, we find Latin words 



APPENDIX. 247 

entering the vocabulary of the Anglo-Saxons. With the 
changes from heathenism to Christianity came a host of 
new ideas, the names for which were taken from the 
Latin of the priests. 

Anglo-Saxon Literature. — It is a question with 
scholars whether any Anglo-Saxon literature was pro- 
duced before the introduction of Christianity. It is 
possible, however, that two poems, "The* Traveller's 
Song," and " Deor's Complaint," were originally com- 
posed about A.D. 550. One of the most important 
monuments of Anglo-Saxon literature is the poem 
" Beowulf," which for a long time was supposed to 
have been written before the Saxons came to England, 
but belongs, in its existing form, it is now generally 
agreed, to the tenth century. Most of the other 
writings of the Anglo-Saxons were religious poems, or 
historical records called chronicles. 

Literary culture among the Anglo-Saxons began in 
Northumbria, and their first literature was written in the 
dialect of the Angles. For a long while Northumbria 
was the most important literary center of England. 
Later the West Saxons took the lead in letters as well 
as in arms and in government. King Alfred, who 
reigned from 871 to 900, was the greatest of the West 
Saxon kings. He was himself an author, and the first 
who wrote extensively in English prose. The Anglo- 
Saxon Chronicle was begun during his reign. Former 
fragmentary chronicles were woven together and filled 
out down to the reign of Alfred, but from that time the 
history is contemporary, and was continued by different 
writers to the year 11 54. 

Danish Conquest. — From the beginning of the ninth 
century for nearly two hundred years England was 



248 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

subject to frequent invasions from the Danes. The raids 
of these pirates were at first confined to the east coast 
of England. For many years they were kept under 
control and given a portion of territory, where they 
settled and lived under their own laws and rules. The 
land thus allotted to the Danes was known as the Dane- 
lagh. In 1016 the Danes rose and defeated the English 
in a decisive battle ; and after this for nearly a quarter 
of a century England was ruled by Danish kings. 

It is impossible to determine how much the vocabu- 
lary of our language has been affected by the Danish 
invasion. The number of English words supposed to 
be of Scandinavian origin is large ; but Scandinavian 
words bear a close resemblance to Anglo-Saxon words ; 
and there is not sufficient Anglo-Saxon literature to 
prove that words appearing only after the Danish in- 
vasion were not in the original vocabulary of Angles, 
Jutes, or Saxons, or borrowed before their settlement in 
England. Many scholars, however, incline to the belief 
that most of these words were introduced by the Danish 
invasion and settlement. 

Anglo-Saxon Period. — For the first six hundred years 
of its existence in England the foreign languages with 
which the Anglo-Saxon had come into contact had pro- 
duced but slight changes in its vocabulary and structure. 
The period from 449 to 1066 is called the Anglo-Saxon 
period of English history. But English soil was soon 
to become the scene of an invasion and conquest which 
mingled the people with another race, and their lan- 
guage with a foreign tongue. 

Norman French. — France, like England, was at first 
inhabited by Celtic tribes. They were called Gauls. 
Roman conquest and occupation had civilized and 



APPENDIX. 249 

Romanized the Celts of France ; and the language 
spoken there was, as in Spain and Italy, Latin slightly 
modified by the original speech. The Gauls, like the 
Britons, had been overcome by Teutonic invasion. Be- 
fore the Anglo-Saxons had conquered Britain, the Franks 
had invaded Gaul and settled in that part of Western 
Europe which from the names of these conquerors has 
ever since been known as France, or the country of the 
Franks. Unlike the Teutonic invaders of Britain, the 
Franks adopted the language and religion of the Roman- 
ized Celtic population ; and France continued to be a 
Christian country speaking a Latin tongue. 

At the time that England was suffering from the raids 
of the Danes, or Northmen, similar excursions were 
being made by the same nation against the northern 
coast of France. In 912 the Northmen under Rolf made 
an inroad into France and forced the French king, 
Charles the Simple, to make them a grant of lands in 
the north of his kingdom. There the Northmen settled, 
and their descendants have remained to this day. Rolf 
accepted Christianity and became a vassal of the French 
king. The language of the French prevailed, and in 
course of time the Northmen adopted the manners and 
customs of the French. Soon their name was softened 
into Normans, and the region they inhabited was known 
as Normandy. 

Norman Conquest. — In 1066 the Normans, under 
William Duke of Normandy, crossed the English Chan- 
nel from the north coast of France ; and England was 
for a third time the scene of foreign invasion and con- 
quest. William became king of England, and his 
descendants have held the throne ever since. After 
the Normans conquered England, they settled there in 



2 SO SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

large numbers. The Saxons were not driven from the 
island, nor were they exterminated. The lands of the 
Saxon barons were confiscated and divided amongst 
the Norman army ; but the Saxons remained as tillers 
of the soil and serfs of the Norman nobility. 

Two Languages in England. — We might naturally 
suppose that as the Normans had conquered the Saxons, 
the Norman language would drive out the Saxon, espe- 
cially since after the Conquest the king's court, the 
nobility, and nearly all the governing agents of the 
king were Norman. The army was composed mainly 
of Norman troops ; and Norman clergy had replaced 
the Saxon priesthood. Instruction in the schools was 
imparted in French. There was little to stimulate, 
and much to discourage, the cultivation of the native 
language. As a result of this exclusion of the Saxons 
from the higher walks of life, and of the consequent 
separation of the two races, we find that for a long 
period, viz., from 1066 to 1200, the two languages 
existed side by side without materially affecting each 
other. During this period very little English literature 
was produced, aside from the Saxon Chronicle, which 
was carried on with only a few breaks in the record to 
the accession of Henry the Second, in 1 1 54. Most of the 
works produced on English soil were written either by 
the clergy in Latin or by Norman writers in their native 
tongue. Many books written in Normandy were read 
in England during this period. In the study of English 
literature the period from 1066 to 1200 is called the 
Anglo-Norman period. The Norman works of this 
period have nothing to do with the English language, 
and the Saxon works are in the Saxon of the previous 
period. Therefore, in tracing the development of the 



APPENDIX. 251 

English language, the Anglo-Saxon or Old English 
period (including the Anglo-Norman, or Transition 
period) may be said to extend to the year 1200. The 
next period is called the Middle English period, and 
covers those years during which the Anglo-Saxon, by 
the adoption of French words and by the loss of its 
inflections, gradually changed its vocabulary and struc- 
ture, and finally passed into the modern English that we 
now speak. 

MIDDLE ENGLISH (l200-l500). 

French or Saxon to Survive ? — For some time after 
the Conquest the languages of the Normans and the 
Saxons mingled very little. In 1204 the kings of 
England lost their possessions in Normandy ; and this 
loss brought about much closer relations between the 
ruling classes and the Saxons. As a result, we find the 
Normans generally learning to speak the Saxon tongue, 
and native writers introducing into their works such 
Norman words as would be readily understood by their 
readers. The Normans made efforts to retain French 
as the literary language. But as fast as French books 
were written they were translated, and the translations 
were read by ten times as many readers as the original 
works. Gradually the Saxon literature gained the 
mastery over the Norman French, but the language of 
this new literature is very different from the Saxon 
previous to the Conquest. 

Norman French absorbed by Saxon. — Much has been 
written as to the importance of the Norman element 1 

1 The student should bear in mind that French is Latin in a slightly 
modified form, and that the Norman French element in the English 
language is really a part of the Latin element. 



252 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

in English ; and the best authorities object to speak- 
ing of the fusion of Norman French and English. In 
the struggle for existence on English soil the Anglo- 
Saxon language succeeded. The two races mingled and 
became one; but the original language has never lost its 
individuality. It borrowed words from the French, and 
gradually lost most of its inflectional forms ; but there 
never was a time when there was any question whether 
the language was French or English. For these and 
other reasons many prefer to designate the language 
before the Conquest as Old English, and not as Anglo- 
Saxon. The borrowing of French words at first went 
on slowly. In the works produced in the last half of 
the thirteenth century, only about twelve per cent of the 
whole number of words are foreign, in some works only 
four per cent ; but the inflections are to a great extent 
discarded. By the middle of the fourteenth century 
we find the number of French words greatly increased ; 
many inflectional forms have disappeared ; and most of 
the original terminations have been leveled to the single 
termination e. 

Chaucer. — The writings of Chaucer, who wrote his 
last works about 1390, can be read without much diffi- 
culty by any educated English-speaking person. In the 
following passage from Chaucer's " Canterbury Tales," 
we find many words spelled with a final e no longer used 
in modern English, and many final e's now silent must 
be pronounced in order to preserve the meter. One 
hundred years from Chaucer's time we find these 
words spelled and pronounced nearly as at present ; 
and for this reason the date of the commencement of 
modern English is generally placed at about the year 
1500. 



APPENDIX. 253 

[from chaucer's " canterbury tales."] 

Whan that the moneth in which the world bigan 
That highte March, whan God first made man, 
Was complet, and y-passed were also, 
Syn March bygan, thritty dayes and tuo, 
Byfel that Chauntecleer in al his pride, 
His seven wyves walkyng him by syde, 
Caste up his eyghen to the brighte sonne 
That in the signe of Taurus hadde i-ronne 
Twenty degrees and oon, and somewhat more ; 
He knew by kynde, and by noon other lore, 
That it was prime, and crew with blisful stevene. 
" The sonne," he sayde, " is clomben up on hevene 
Fourty degrees and oon, and more i-wis. 
Madame Pertelote, my worldes blis, 
Herkneth these blisful briddes how they synge, 
And seth the fressche floures how they springe ; 
Ful is myn hert of revel and solaas." 
But sodeinly him fel a sorweful caas ; 
For evere the latter ende of joy e is wo. 
God wot that worldly joye is soone ago. 

MODERN ENGLISH. 

Modern English dates from Caxton, who brought the 
printing press to England about the year 1475. By this 
time the Norman and English races were blended into 
one, and no further change could come from the influence 
of one race upon the other. The English that Caxton 
printed was the same language as that which we speak 
to-day. All the inflections had been lost; and as far 
as the adoption of French words was concerned, the 
vocabulary definitely determined. Many words of Cax- 
ton's time have since become obsolete, and many words 
have since been introduced. For though there has been 
no national immigration to England since the day of 
William the Conqueror, there have been many influences 



254 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

at work which have introduced new words into the 
English vocabulary. Latin continued to be the language 
of the church of Rome and of the courts of law; and 
for many years it seemed as if Latin were destined to 
become the literary language of England. Even as late 
as 1600 we find authors translating their works from 
English into Latin in order that they might survive the 
longer for being written in the " universal tongue. ' ' Thus, 
besides the Latin which has come into English with the 
Norman French, many words have come directly from 
the Latin itself by reason of its long use in law, by the 
church, and by men of letters. The terminology of 
science is derived largely from the Greek, and commerce 
has introduced words from nearly every language on the 
globe. Each new edition of the dictionary contains 
words that are not to be found in the editions previously 
published. One hundred years from now there will be 
many words in the English language that our generation 
will never hear nor see. 

SPECIMENS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 1 

The following extracts from various English transla- 
tions of the Bible will best exhibit how the language 
has changed in the course of time : — • 

I. WICLIF VERSION— 1380. 

Nile 3e tresoure to 3ou tresouris in erthe : where rust and 
mou3te distrieth, and where theues deluen out and stelen, but 
gadir to 3ou tresouris in heuene f where nether rust ne mou3te 
distrieth, and where theues deluen not out ne stelen for where 
thi tresoure is : there also thin herte is y 

1 From the English Hexapla, London, 1841. 



APPENDIX. 255 

II. TYNDALE VERSION — 1534. 

Se that ye gaddre you not treasure vpon the erth y where 
rust and mothes corrupte, and where theves breake through 
and steale. But gaddre ye treasure togeder in heven where 
nether rust nor mothes corrupte / and where theves nether 
breake vp nor yet steale. For where soever youre treasure ys, 
there will youre hertes be also. 

III. RHEIMS VERSION — 1582. 

Heape not vp to your selues treasures on the earth : where 
the rust & mothe do corrupt, & where theeues digge through 
& steale. 

But heape vp to your selues treasures in heauen : where 
neither the rust nor mothe doth corrupt, and where theeues 
do not digge through nor steale. 

For where thy treasure is, there is thy hart also. 

IV. AUTHORIZED VERSION— 1611. 

(Original spelling retained.) 

Lay not vp for your selues treasures vpon earth, where moth 
and rust doth corrupt, and where theeues breake thorow, and 
steale. But lay vp for your selues treasures in heauen, where 
neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where theeues doe not 
breake thorow nor steale. 

For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. 



256 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 



II. 

GOLDSMITH. 
THE DESERTED VILLAGE. 1 

Sweet Auburn ! loveliest village of the plain ; 

Where health and plenty cheered the laboring swain. 

Where smiling spring its earliest visit paid, 

And parting summer's lingering blooms delayed : 

Dear lovely bowers of innocence and ease, 

Seats of my youth, when every sport could please, 

How often have I loitered o'er thy green, 

Where humble happiness endeared each scene ! 

How often have I paused on every charm, 

The sheltered cot, the cultivated farm, 

The never-failing brook, the busy mill, 

The decent church that topt the neighboring hill, 

The hawthorn bush, with seats beneath the shade, 

For talking age and whispering lovers made i 

How often have I blest the coming day, 

When" toil remitting lent its turn to play, 

And all the village train, from labor free, 

Led up their sports beneath the spreading tree, 

While many a pastime circled in the shade, 

The young contending as the old surveyed ; 

And many a gambol frolicked o'er the ground, 

And sleights of art and feats of strength went round. 

And still, as each repeated pleasure tired, 

Succeeding sports the mirthful band inspired ; 

The dancing pair that simply sought renown 

By holding out to tire each other down ; 

The swain mir.trustless of his smutted face, 

While secret laughter tittered round the place ; 

The bashful virgin's sidelong looks of love, 

The matron's glance that would those looks reprove. 

These were thy charms, sweet village ! sports like these, 

1 See footnote, p. 12. 



APPENDIX. 257 

With sweet succession, taught even toil to please : 
These round thy bowers their cheerful influence shed : 
These were thy charms — but all these charms are fled. 

Sweet smiling village, loveliest of the lawn, 
Thy sports are fled, and all thy charms withdrawn ; 
Amidst thy bowers the tyrant's hand is seen, 
And desolation saddens all thy green : 
One only master grasps the whole domain, 
And half a tillage stints thy smiling plain. 
No more thy glassy brook reflects the day, 
But, choked with sedges, works its weedy way ; 
Along thy glades, a solitary guest, 
The hollow sounding bittern guards its nest ; 
Amidst thy desert walks the lapwing flies, 
And tires their echoes with unvaried cries ; 
Sunk are thy bowers in shapeless ruin all, 
And the long grass o'ertops the moldering wall ; 
And trembling, shrinking from the spoiler's hand, 
Far, far away thy children leave the land. 

Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey, 
Where wealth accumulates, and men decay : 
Princes and lords may flourish, or may fade ; 
A breath can make them, as a breath has made: 
But a bold peasantry, their country's pride, 
When once destroyed, can never be supplied. 

A time there was, ere England's griefs began, 
When every rood of ground maintained its man ; 
For him light labor spread her wholesome store, 
Just gave what life required, but gave no more : 
His best companions, innocence and health ; 
And his best riches, ignorance of wealth. 

But times are altered ; trade's unfeeling train 
Usurp the land and dispossess the swain ; 
Along the lawn, where scattered hamlets rose, 
Unwieldy wealth and cumbrous pomp repose, 
And every want to opulence allied, 
And every pang that folly pays to pride. 
These gentle hours that plenty bade to bloom, 
Those calm desires that asked but little room, 
sch. eng. — 17 



258 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

Those healthful sports that graced the peaceful scene, 
Lived in each look, and brightened all the green ; 
These, far departing, seek a kinder shore, 
And rural mirth and manners are no more. 

Sweet Auburn ! parent of the blissful hour, 
Thy glades forlorn confess the tyrant's power. 
Here, as I take my solitary rounds 
Amidst thy tangling walks and ruined grounds, 
And, many a year elapsed, return to view 
Where once the cottage stood, the hawthorn grew, 
Remembrance wakes with all her busy train, 
Swells at my breast, and turns the past to pain. 

In all my wanderings round this world of care, 
In all my griefs — and God has given my share — 
I still had hopes my latest hours to crown, 
Amidst these humble bowers to lay me down ; 
To husband out life's taper at the close, 
And keep the flame from wasting by repose : 
I still had hopes, for pride attends us still, 
Amidst the swains to show my book-learned skill, 
Around my fire an evening group to draw, 
And tell of all I felt, and all I saw ; 
And, as an hare whom hounds and horns pursue 
Pants to the place from whence at first she flew, 
I still had hopes, my long vexations past, 
Here to return — and die at home at last. 

O blest retirement, friend to life's decline, 
Retreats from care, that never must be mine, 
How happy he who crowns in shades like these 
A youth of labor with an age of ease ; 
Who quits a world where strong temptations try, 
And, since 'tis hard to combat, learns to fly! 
For him no wretches, born to work and weep, 
Explore the mine, or tempt the dangerous deep ; 
No surly porter stands in guilty state, 
To spurn imploring famine from the gate ; 
But on he moves to meet his latter end, 
Angels around befriending virtue's friend ; 
Bends to the grave with unperceived decay, 
While resignation gently slopes the way ; 



APPENDIX. 259 

And, ail his prospects brightening to the last, 
His heaven commences ere the world be past ! 

Sweet was the sound, when oft at evening's close 
Up yonder hill the village murmur rose. 
There, as I passed with careless steps and slow, 
The mingling notes came softened from below ; 
The swain responsive as the milkmaid sung, 
The sober herd that lowed to meet their young, 
The noisy geese that gabbled o'er the pool, 
The playful children just let loose from school, 
The watchdog's voice that bayed the whispering wind, 
And the loud laugh that spoke the vacant mind ; — 
These all in sweet confusion sought the shade, 
And filled each pause the nightingale had made. 
But now the sounds of population fail, 
No cheerful murmurs fluctuate in the gale, 
No busy steps the grass-grown footway tread, 
For all the bloomy flush of life is fled. 
All but yon widowed, solitary thing, 
That feebly bends beside the plashy spring : 
She, wretched matron, forced in age, for bread, 
To strip the brook with mantling cresses spread. 
To pick her wintry fagot from the thorn, 
To seek her nightly shed, and weep till morn ; 
She only left of all the harmless train, 
The sad historian of the pensive plain. 

Near yonder copse, where once the garden smiled, 
And still where many a garden flower grows wild ; 
There, where a few torn shrubs the place disclose, 
The village preacher's modest mansion rose. 
A man he was to all the country dear, 
And passing rich with forty pounds a year ; 
Remote from towns he ran his godly race, 
Nor e'er had changed, nor wished to change his place ; 
Unpracticed he to fawn, or seek for power, 
By doctrines fashioned to the varying hour • 
Far other aims his heart had learned to prize, 
More skilled to raise the wretched than to rise. 
His house was known to all the vagrant train ; 
He chid their wanderings but relieved their pain : 



260 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

The long remembered beggar was his guest, 
Whose beard descending swept his aged breast ; 
The ruined spendthrift, now no longer proud, 
Claimed kindred there, and had his claims allowed ; 
The broken soldier, kindly bade to stay, 
Sat by his fire, and talked the night away, 
Wept o'er his wounds or tales of sorrow done, 
Shouldered his crutch, and showed how fields were won. 
Pleased with his guests, the good man learned to glow, 
And quite forgot their vices in their woe ; 
Careless their merits or their faults to scan, 
His pity gave ere charity began. 

Thus to relieve the wretched was his pride, 
And e'en his failings leaned to virtue's side ; 
But in his duty prompt at every call, 
He watched and wept, he prayed and felt for all ; 
And, as a bird each fond endearment tries 
To tempt its new-fledged offspring to the skies, 
He tried each art, reproved each dull delay, 
Allured to brighter worlds, and led the way. 

Beside the bed where parting life was laid, 
And sorrow, guilt, and pain by turns dismayed. 
The reverend champion stood. At his control 
Despair and anguish fled the struggling soul ; 
Comfort came down the trembling wretch to raise, 
And his last faltering accents whispered praise. 

At church, with meek and unaffected grace, 
His looks adorned the venerable place ; 
Truth from his lips prevailed with double sway, 
And fools, who came to scoff, remained to pray. 
The service past, around the pious man, 
With steady zeal, each honest rustic ran ; 
Even children followed with endearing wile, 
And plucked his gown to share the good man's smile. 
His ready smile a parent's warmth exprest ; 
Their welfare pleased him, and their cares distrest : 
To them his heart, his love, his griefs were given, 
But all his serious thoughts had rest in heaven. 
As some tall cliff that lifts its awful form, 
Swells from the vale, and midway leaves the storm, 



APPENDIX. 26l 

Tho' round its breast the rolling clouds are spread, 
Eternal sunshine settles on its head. 

Beside yon straggling fence that skirts the way, 
With blossonVd furze unprofitably gay, 
There, in his noisy mansion, skilPd to rule, 
The village master taught his little school. 
A man severe he was, and stern to view ; 
I knew him well, and every truant knew : 
Well had the boding tremblers learned to trace 
The day's disasters in his morning face ; 
Full well they laughed with counterfeited glee 
At all his jokes, for many a joke had he ; 
Full well the busy whisper circling round 
Conveyed the dismal tidings when he frowned. 
Yet he was kind, or, if severe in aught, 
The love he bore to learning was in fault ; 
The village all declared how much he knew : 
1 Twas certain he could write, and cipher too ; 
Lands he could measure, terms and tides presage, 
And even the story ran that he could gauge : 
In arguing, too, the parson owned his skill, 
For, even tho' vanquished, he could argue still ; 
While words of learned length and thundering sound 
Amazed the gazing rustics ranged around ; 
And still they gazed, and still the wonder grew, 
That one small head could carry all he knew. 

But past is all his fame. The very spot 
Where many a time he triumphed is forgot. 
Near yonder thorn, that lifts its head on high, 
Where once the sign-post caught the passing eye, 
Low lies that house where nut-brown draughts inspired, 
Where gray-beard mirth and smiling toil retired, 
Where village statesmen talked with looks profound, 
And news much older than their ale went round. 
Imagination fondly stoops to trace 
The parlor splendors of that festive place : 
The whitewashed wall, the nicely sanded floor, 
The varnished clock that clicked behind the door ; 
The chest contrived a double debt to pay, 
A bed by night, a chest of drawers by day ; 



262 



SCHOOL ENGLISH. 



The pictures placed for ornament and use, 
The twelve good rules, the royal game of goose *, 
The hearth, except when winter chill'd the day, 
With aspen boughs and flowers and fennel gay ; 
While broken teacups, wisely kept for show, 
Ranged o'er the chimney, glistened in a row. 

Vain transitory splendors ! could not all 
Reprieve the tottering mansion from its fall ? 
Obscure it sinks, nor shall it more impart 
An hour's importance to the poor man's heart. 
Thither no more the peasant shall repair 
To sweet oblivion of his daily care ; 
No more the farmer's news, the barber's tale, 
No more the woodman's ballad shall prevail ; 
No more the smith his dusky brow shall clear, 
Relax his ponderous strength, and lean to hear; 
The host himself no longer shall be found 
Careful to see the mantling bliss go round ; 
Nor the coy maid, half willing to be prest, 
Shall kiss the cup to pass it to the rest. 

Yes ! let the rich deride, the proud disdain, 
These simple blessings of the lowly train ; 
To me more dear, congenial to my heart, 
One native charm, than all the gloss of art ; 
Spontaneous joys, where Nature has its play, 
The soul adopts, and owns their first-born sway ; 
Lightly they frolic o'er the vacant mind, 
Unenvied, unmolested, unconfined. 
But the long pomp, the midnight masquerade, 
With all the freaks of wanton wealth arrayed — 
In these, ere triflers half their wish obtain, 
The toiling pleasure sickens into pain ; 
And, e'en while fashion's brightest arts decoy, 
The heart distrusting asks if this be joy. 

Ye friends to truth, ye statesmen who survey 
The rich man's joys increase, the poor's decay, 
'Tis yours to judge, how wide the limits stand 
Between a splendid and a happy land. 
Proud swells the tide with loads of freighted ore, 
And shouting Folly hails them from her shore ; 



APPENDIX. 263 

Hoards e'en beyond the miser's wish abound, 

And rich men flock from all the world around. 

Yet count our gains. This wealth is but a name 

That leaves our useful products still the same. 

Not so the loss. The man of wealth and pride 

Takes up a space that many poor supplied ; 

Space for his lake, his park's extended bounds, 

Space for his horses, equipage, and hounds : 

The robe that wraps his limbs in silken sloth 

Has robbed the neighboring fields of half their growth ; 

His seat, where solitary sports are seen, 

Indignant spurns the cottage from the green : 

Around the world each needful product flies, 

For all the luxuries the world supplies ; 

While thus the land adorned for pleasure all 

In barren splendor feebly waits the fall. 

As some fair female unadorned and plain, 
Secure to please while youth confirms her reign, 
Slights every borrowed charm that dress supplies, 
Nor shares with art the triumph of her eyes ; 
But when those charms are past, for charms are frail, 
When time advances, and when lovers fail, 
She then shines forth, solicitous to bless, 
In all the glaring impotence of dress. 
Thus fares the land by luxury betrayed : 
In nature's simplest charms at first arrayed, 
But verging to decline, its splendors rise ; 
Its vistas strike, its palaces surprise : 
While, scourged by famine from the smiling land, 
The mournful peasant leads his humble band, 
And while he sinks, without one arm to save, 
The country blooms — a garden and a grave. 

Where then, ah! where, shall poverty reside, 
To 'scape the pressure of contiguous pride? 
If to some common's fenceless limits strayed 
He drives his flock to pick the scanty blade, 
Those fenceless fields the sons of wealth divide, 
And even the bare-worn common is denied. 

If to the city sped — what waits him there ? 
To see profusion that he must not share ; 



264 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

To see ten thousand baneful arts combined 

To pamper luxury, and thin mankind ; 

To see those joys the sons of pleasure know 

Extorted from his fellow-creature's woe. 

Here while the courtier glitters in brocade, 

There the pale artist plies the sickly trade ; 

Here while the proud their long-drawn pomps display, 

There the black gibbet glooms beside the way. 

The dome where pleasure holds her midnight reign 

Here, richly deckt, admits the gorgeous train : 

Tumultuous grandeur crowds the blazing square, 

The rattling chariots clash, the torches glare. 

Sure scenes like these no troubles e'er annoy ! 

Sure these denote one universal joy ! 

Are these thy serious thoughts ? — Ah, turn thine eyes 

Where the poor houseless shivering female lies. 

She once, perhaps, in village plenty blest, 

Has wept at tales of innocence distrest ; 

Her modest looks the cottage might adorn, 

Sweet as the primrose peeps beneath the thorn : 

Now lost to all ; her friends, her virtue fled, 

Near her betrayer's door she lays her head, 

And, pinch'd with cold, and shrinking from the shower, 

With heavy heart deplores that luckless hour, 

When idly first, ambitious of the town, 

She left her wheel and robes of country brown. 

Do thine, sweet Auburn, — thine, the loveliest train, — 
Do thy fair tribes participate her pain ? 
Even now, perhaps, by cold and hunger led, 
At proud men's doors they ask a little bread ! 

Ah, no ! To distant climes, a dreary scene, 
Where half the convex world intrudes between, 
Through torrid tracks with fainting steps they go, 
Where wild Altama murmurs to their woe. 
Far different there from all that charm'd before 
The various terrors of that horrid shore ; 
Those blazing suns that dart a downward ray, 
And fiercely shed intolerable day ; 
Those matted woods, where birds forget to sing, 
But silent bats in drowsy clusters cling ; 






APPENDIX. 265 

Those poisonous fields with rank luxuriance crowned, 
Where the dark scorpion gathers death around ; 
Where at each step the stranger fears to wake 
The rattling terrors of the vengeful snake ; 
Where crouching tigers wait their hapless prey, 
And savage men more murderous still than they ; 
While oft in whirls the mad tornado flies, 
Mingling the ravaged landscape with the skies. 
Far different these from every former scene, 
The cooling brook, the grassy-vested green, 
The breezy covert of the warbling grove, 
That only sheltered thefts of harmless love. 

Good Heaven! what sorrows gloom'd that parting day, 
That called them from their native walks away ; 
When the poor exiles, every pleasure past, 
Hung round the bowers, and fondly looked their last. 
And took a long farewell, and wished in vain 
For seats like these beyond the western main, 
And shuddering still to face the distant deep, 
Returned and wept, and still returned to weep. 
The good old sire the first prepared to go 
To new-found worlds, and wept for others' woe ; 
But for himself, in conscious virtue brave, 
He only wished for worlds beyond the grave. 
His lovely daughter, lovelier in her tears, 
The fond companion of his helpless years, 
Silent went next, neglectful of her charms, 
And left a lover's for a father's arms. 
With louder plaints the mother spoke her woes, 
And bless'd the cot where every pleasure rose, 
And kiss'd her thoughtless babes with many a tear, 
And clasp'd them close, in sorrow doubly dear, 
Whilst her fond husband strove to lend relief 
In all the silent manliness of grief. 

O Luxury! thou curst by Heaven's decree, 
How ill exchanged are things like these for thee 
How do thy potions, with insidious joy, 
Diffuse their pleasure only to destroy ! 
Kingdoms by thee, to sickly greatness grown, 
Boast of a florid vigor not their own. 



266 SCHOOL ENGLISH. 

At every draught more large and large they grow, 
A bloated mass of rank unwieldy woe ; 
Till sapped their strength, and every part unsound, 
Down, down they sink, and spread a ruin round. 

Even now the devastation is begun, 
And half the business of destruction done ; 
Even now, methinks, as pondering here I stand, 
I see the rural virtues leave the land. 
Down where yon anchoring vessel spreads the sail, 
That idly waiting flaps with every gale, 
Downward they move, a melancholy band, 
Pass from the shore, and darken all the strand. 
Contented toil, and hospitable care, 
And kind connubial tenderness, are there ; 
And piety with wishes placed above, 
And steady loyalty, and faithful love. 
And thou, sweet poetry, thou loveliest maid, 
Still first to fly where sensual joys invade ; 
Unfit in these degenerate times of shame 
To catch the heart, or strike for honest fame ; 
Dear charming nymph, neglected and decried, 
My shame in crowds, my solitary pride ; 
Thou source of all my bliss, and all my woe, 
That found'st me poor at first, and keep'st me so ; 
Thou guide by which the nobler arts excel, 
Thou nurse of every virtue, fare thee well! 
Farewell, and Oh ! where^r thy voice be tried, 
On Torno's cliffs, or Pambamarca's side, 
Whether where equinoctial fervors glow, 
Or winter wraps the polar world in snow, 
Still let thy voice, prevailing over time, 
Redress the rigors of the inclement clime ; 
Aid slighted truth with thy persuasive strain ; 
Teach erring man to spurn the rage of gain ; 
Teach him, that states of native strength possest, 
Tho 1 very poor, may still be very blest ; 
That traded proud empire hastes to swift decay, 
As ocean sweeps the labored mole away ; 
While self-dependent power can time defy, 
As rocks resist the billows and the sky. 



INDEX. 



PAGE 

A 66 

Abstract 188 

Address 166 

Adjectives 63-65 

unnecessary 94 

Adverbs 65 

Agricola 241 

Alchemy 31 

Alembic 31 

Alfred, King 247 

Algebra 31 

All 67 

Allegory 124 

Allied words 23 

Altruism 14 

Ambiguity 79 

An : 66 

Analysis 52 

Angles 240 

Anglo-Norman period 257 

Anglo-Saxon 243 

derivatives 26 

element in English 25 

foundation of English 244 

inflections 244 

literature 247 

period 249 

relation of, to Norman-French 251 

specimen of 245 

strength in 95 

Antecedent 19 

Antecedent 78 

Anti-climax 98 

Antithesis 101 

Any 67 



Anybody 57 

Any one 57 

Apostrophe, figure of speech. .... 132 

in possessive case 55, 234 

Argument 212 

chain of 217 

Armadillo 31 

Article 66 

Artificial methods 209 

Aryan languages 22 

Ashame 14 

Ashby 30 

Augustine 246 

Authority for use of words 13 

Auxiliaries 45, 62 

Axis 51 

Ballast 31 

Bamboo 31 

Bandanna 31 

Basis 51 

Basket 30 

B "f 43 

Benison 29 

" Beowulf" 247 

Bernicia 243 

Biography 19 

Blotting paper 162 

Body 43 

Books, essay subjects from 208 

Boom 31 

Both 67 

Bow 30 

Boy 44 

Brackets 232 



267 



268 



SCHOOL ENGLISH. 



PAGE 

Bravado 31 

Britons 241 

Brogue 30 

Brother 23 

Bulldoze 14 

Bust 31 

But 68 

-by = 30 

Caitiff 29 

Calf 43 

Can 45, 62 

Capitals , 234-236 

in letters 169 

Caprice, capricious 32 

Carefulness 161, 210 

Carelessness 17 

Cartoon 31 

Celtic element 30 

languages 246 

Celts 241 

Certain 45 

Chain of argument 217 

Change 28 

Change of subject 81 

Changes in meaning of words 20 

Chant 28 

Charles the Simple 249 

Chaucer 253 

Choice of words 95~97 

Choosing a subject 204 

Chronicles 247 

Chrysalis 52 

Church Latin 246 

Clan 30 

Clauses, punctuation of 224 

Clearness 75~9i 

from figures of speech 120, 154 

Climax 98 

Cognate words 23 

Coin 28 

Coined words 36 

Colon 219, 229 

Comma 219, 222-228 

Commerce . , , , 254 



PAGE 

Common ground 215 

Comparative degree 63 

Compare 40 

Complex sentence 221 

Complimentary close 166, 167 

Composition 159-239 

difficulties in 159, 175 

exercises in 10 

Compound sentence 221 

punctuation of 225, 228 

Conclusion 210, 216 

Condensation 188 

Conjunctions 69 

Contrast 134 

Conversion of Britain 246 

Copy of letters 172 

Cornish 243 

Corpse 43 

Correction of errors 10 

in construction 50-74 

in use of words 35~49 

Crank 14 

Crisis , 51 

Danish Conquest 247 

Dash 231 

Debate 212-217 

Declarative sentences 220 

Definitions 17-19 

Deira 243 

" Deor's Complaint " 247 

Depot 31 

Derivation 16, 32 

Derived words 23 

Description 192-201 

Devil 28 

Diacritical marks 15 

Di&resis 52 

Diction 35 

Dictionary 13 

information in 37 

Difficulties in composition work. . 159 

Direction 166, 168 

Discover 39 

Domesticated words 51 



INDEX. 



269 



PAGE 

Each .". . 57 

East Anglia ." 243 

Effluvium 51 

Either 57, 67 

Elements of English language .... 23 

Ellipsis 227 

English, classics 12 

language, elements of 23 

language, history of 240 

middle 251 

modern 253 

old 251, 252 

transition 251 

words I 3 _ 34 

Epigram 137 

Errors. See Correction of Errors. 

in the use of figures 152 

Essays 203-211 

Essay writing, necessary 175 

Essex 243 

Etymology 19-23 

Etymology 30 

Everybody 57 

Exclamation point 219, 231 

Exclamatory sentences ...... 102, 221 

Expire 19 

Extracts, exercises from 175-191 

Fail 28 

Famine 28 

Farther 44 

Fashion 29 

Figures of speech 1 19-15 1 

errors in 152-157 

trite 155 

First 67 

Force 91-103 

in figures of speech 120, 154 

Foreign languages, study of 31 

words 38 

words, plural of 51 

Former 67 

Frail 29 

Franks 249 

Fraternal 23 



PAGE 

Frigu , 240 

Further 44 

Gaelic 243 

Galleon 31 

Gathering information 206 

Gauls 248 

Genius 51 

Genus 51 

Germanic group 240 

Glen 30 

Good style 75 

use 13 

Grammar and punctuation 220 

and rhetoric 50 

twenty rules of 51 

Grammatical terms 220 

Greek element 29 

words in English 254 

words in Latin 29 

Grime 30 

Hardly 68 

Harmony 91-106 

Heading 166 

History, exercises from 189 

Honesty in work 211 

Hyperbole 133 

Hyphen 233 

Hypothesis 52 

Imperative sentences 221 

Improprieties 39 

Indefinite pronouns 67 

Indo-European language 21 

Infinitive mood 61 

Information, for essays 176 

gathering 206 

Ink 162 

Interrogation point 219, 230 

Interrogative sentences 102, 220 

Introduction 210 

Invent 39 

Inversion 101 

Irony ,,»♦.,, 134 



270 



SCHOOL ENGLISH. 



PAGE 

Jaspar 31 

Julius Cassar 241 

Jutes 240 

Kent 243 

King Alfred 247 

Lad 30, 44 

Lasso 31 

Last 67 

Latin element 27 

words 245, 251 

Latter 67 

Letter writing 163-174 

Like 69 

Logic , 213 

Long sentences 50 

words 95 

Loose sentence 99 

Lunatic 16 

Luxuriously 39 

Major premise 216 

Mango 31 

Manx 243 

Many a one 57 

Marry 28 

Maximum 52 

May 45, 162 

Mercia 243 

Metamorphosis 52 

Metaphor , 122 

Metaphors, mixed 154 

worn out 155 

Method employed 10 

Metonymy 130 

Middle English 251 

Mile 27 

Milton's vocabulary 24 

Minimum 52 

Minor premise 216 

Mint 28 

Miscellaneous element 30 

Misrepresentation 214 

Modern English 253 



PAGE 

Modifiers 77 

Monosyllables 96 

Mutton 43 

Narration 201 

Naturalness 159 

Neatness 161 

Nebula 52 

Neither 57, 67 

None 57, 67 

Norman Conquest 249 

Normandy 249 

Norman-French 248 

in English 28 

Normans in England 250 

Norse element 30 

Northmen 249 

Northumbria 243 

literature of 247 

Oasis 52 

Object, rule for 54 

Observation, power of 192 

Old English 251, 252 

Omission of words 79 

One 57, 67 

Only 68, 77 

Order of words 98 

Originality 152 

Om 14 

Outline 208 

Ox 43 

Parables 128 

Paragraph 234 

Parentheses 232 

Parenthesis 52 

Parenthetical clauses 81 

Pauses 218 

Perceive 28 

Period 219, 230 

Periodic sentence (period) 99 

Personification 128 

Phenomenon 52 

Philology 21 



INDEX. 



271 



PAGE 

Philosophy 30 

Phrases '. 221 

punctuation of 224 

Picts 242 

Pleasure in work 204 

Polite 32 

Poor 29 

Pork 43 

Port 16 

Possessive case 55, 56 

Potato 31 

Pound 28 

Precision 4 I_ 47 

Predicate, case of 53 

definition of 220 

Prepositions .40, 68 

Prestige 31 

Prevent 20 

Priest 28 

Pronouns 57 

position of 78 

possessive case of 55 

Pronunciation 15 

Propriety 39-4 1 

Punch 31 

Punctuation 218-234 

clearness from 78 

of letters 166-169 

Purists 36 

Purity 35-39 

Quotation marks 232 

Quotations, punctuation of 226, 229 

Quoting 211 

Ranch 31 

Rank of punctuation points 219 

Ransack 30 

Ray 29 

Reading 11 

Redundancy 94 

R"f 31 

Relative clauses, punctuation of . . 225 

Relatives 69 

Repetition 92, 104 



PAGE 

Reproduction 177 

Resemblance 120 

too remote 154 

Restrictive clauses 225 

Rhetoric 30 

Rhetoric ^-^S 

and grammar 50 

object in studying 9 

Rivals 33 

Rolf 249 

Roman conquest of Britain 241 

Romans in Britain 246 

Royal 28 

Ruffian 31 

Rugby 30 

Salutation 166, 167 

Saxon Conquest 241 

Saxons 240 

Scandinavian element 30 

words 248 

School essays 205 

Scots 241 

Scratch 16 

Screech 30 

Semicolon 219, 228 

Sentence 220 

exclamatory « 102 

interrogative 102 

loose 99 

periodic 99 

rule 70 

Shakespeare's vocabulary 24 

Shall 45, 62 

Shame 14 

Sheep 43 

Short sentences 50 

words 95 

Should 45, 62 

Signature 166, 168 

Simile 120 

Simple language 197 

sentence 221 

Slang 39 

expressions 123 



272 



SCHOOL ENGLISH. 



PAGE 

Sloop 31 

Smoothness 105 

Soiree 31 

Somebody 57 

Something 57 

Somnambulist 19 

Sound, disagreeable 106 

Specific terms 80 

Spelling 161 

Standard authors, usage of 13 

Stimulus 52 

Style 75 

Subject 59 

for essays 203 

rule for 52 

Subordinate clauses 60 

Substitution 182 

Summary 217 

Superlative degree 63 

Superscription i56, 168 

Supplementary clauses 99 

Sure 45 

Swiftly 18 

Swine 43 

Syllogism 216 

Synechdoche 131 

Synonyms 41 

Synthesis 52 

Taboo 31 

Taste in choice of words 37 

Tautology 94 

Telegraph 29 

Telephone 29 

Tenses 60 

Terminus 52 

Teutonic group 240 

That 70 

Thesis 52 

Thor 240 

Thoughts for essays 177 

Titles, punctuation of 233 

To 61 



PAGE 

Tobacco ; 31 

Toddy 31 

Transition period 251 

Translation 189 

" Traveler's Song " 247 

Trench, " Study of Words " 33 

Tribulation 16, 33 

Tropes 120 

Unity 80 

Unnecessary words 93~95 

Urbane 32 

Valor 17 

Veal : 43 

Verbosity 95 

Verbs 59-62 

Vertebra 52 

Welsh 243 

Wessex 243 

West Saxons ... 243 

Whisky 30 

Whitby 30 

Wiclifs translation 96 

Wigwam 31 

Will 45, 62 

William, Duke of Normandy 249 

Woden 240 

Wordiness 95 

Words, borrowed 36 

choice of 95 

English 13-34 

in same construction 223 

long 95 

of nearly the same meaning. . . 44 

order of 98 

originally of one meaning 43 

short 95 

standing of 37 

unnecessary 93~95 

Worriting 14 

Would 45-62 



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